17 Total Homes Displaced In 'Completely Unprecedented' Landslide

ROLLING HILLS ESTATES, CA — It's been almost one week since homes at Peartree Lane in Rolling Hills Estates started sliding into the canyon behind them, and City, County and State officials assured residents that help was on the way

Rolling Hills Estates City Councilmembers were joined by County Supervisor Janice Hahn, Senator Ben Allen and Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi at a walkthrough on Thursday of the landslide area. As of Thursday, officials said a total of 17 homes have been evacuated.

The movement of the houses has not stopped, according to Los Angeles County Fire.

"This is unprecedented. I don't know how many cities ever have dealt with such a calamity," said Rolling Hills Estates City Councilmember Frank Zerunyan. "The fact that we haven't lost anyone, we have no one injured, we have everyone housed is, I think, our huge success in light of the calamity that we're seeing, and the devastation that has occurred in our city."

Though the specific cause of the landslide has not yet been determined, city officials said the homeowners association for the gated neighborhood has engaged a geological firm to survey the area. The firm will be onsite starting July 19 to take core samples, according to officials.

Due to the neighborhood being private property, the city or the county were not permitted to hire their own geologist to survey the area. The unique circumstances mean that the HOA is responsible for hiring the geologist.

Residents in the neighborhood said they started hearing loud cracking and things falling off their homes Saturday afternoon. Many families have lost everything they own and my not be able to get them back because their homes are too damaged to enter, LACoFD said.

In order to provide more aid to the displaced residents, the city declared a local state of emergency and is expecting a visit from Governor Gavin Newsome's office of emergency services to the neighborhood on Friday.

In addition, the county plans to set up a one-stop shop of resources to aid residents to provide insurance consultations, help replace lost government documents as well as connect people to nonprofit organizations.

"Help is on the way for the residents who lost everything in the recent landslide," Hahn said.

The city said residents and the community can check the newly-launched webpage with critical information about the landslide. Officials will continue to provide community updates at www.RHE.city/PeartreeLane as they learn more information.