Mudslides Still a Threat Despite Dry Weather

San Fernando Valley residents may be enjoying a reprieve from recent El Nino-powered rainstorms, but city building inspectors are warning residents that despite the sunnier weather, the threat of mudslides in hillside areas is still very real.

So far, the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety has red- or yellow-tagged about 50 dwellings as in danger of mudslide catastrophe, mostly along the slopes of the Santa Monica Mountains.

That figure could still rise as water continues to percolate into the surface soil down to the silt-stone bedrock over which many Southern California hillside homes are built, inspectors said.

“By no means are we out of the woods yet,” said David Keim, the city’s principal building inspector. “We anticipate more and more slides like this to come. As rain seeps into the bedrock, we will continue to have these failures. More rain is not required to cause damage.

“If we had no more rain at all this season, we still anticipate erosion problems and potential slope failure for several weeks to come,” until about the end of March, he said.

In addition, he noted, “The National Weather Service is predicting that we could experience another one to two months of wet weather. That means we could potentially see mudslide damage into May.”

Water reaching the interface between the soil and bedrock can lubricate the rock face so that the soil and house above simply slide down the rock, inspectors said.

Of the 45 houses cited by city building inspectors as endangered, 10 are in the San Fernando Valley. Of those, seven are red-tagged and three are yellow-tagged, according to Building and Safety Department records.

The most recent Valley slide occurred Saturday night when mud rumbled down a slope and flattened a house in the 3800 block of Eureka Drive in Studio City, pushing it into a backyard swimming pool.

“My sons were sitting in their bedroom when they heard this crrrr, crrrr, crrrr sound,” recalled next-door neighbor Eliat Levitan on Monday. “Then they heard glass breaking. We didn’t know what was going on.”

Only four days before the saturated hillside gave way, that neighboring house--unoccupied at the time--had been deemed uninhabitable by building officials. The houses on either side of the pancaked house also were yellow-tagged as well as three houses above them on Laurie Drive.

“We got a call from a neighbor on Tuesday who said there was a minor slide” on the site, Keim said. “The slide caused mud to pile up at the back of the house. There was no structural damage, but we feared a possible mudslide.

“The owners were on vacation at the time,” Keim added. “They didn’t get home until later in the week, but they heeded our red-tag order. It’s a good thing they did.”

Public records show that the $780,000 single-family home is owned by Hanan S. Stanley. Attempts to reach Stanley on Monday were unsuccessful.

Levitan said that when building inspectors told her before the slide that they were going to yellow-tag her kitchen, she still felt no compulsion to pack up and leave.

“We have lived here for 16 years without any problems so I see no need to panic now,” said Levitan, who installed water gutters and planted shrubs to keep mud from sliding downhill from Laurie Drive. “I mean how safe is anyone anywhere really?”

The Studio City slide followed a slide in West Hills in February that tore a 200-foot-long gash across the hillside sloping between Napa and Malden streets, damaged five homes and sent a garage coasting downhill. Days earlier, a mudslide forced the evacuation of three homes along Oak View Drive in Encino. No injuries were reported.

Mudslides also have threatened homes in Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Hollywood Hills, Woodland Hills and other foothill enclaves, building officials said.

Most displaced residents are staying with friends and relatives. Others have found emergency shelter through the Red Cross, which has already helped 37 slide victims, including 16 in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys, said agency spokesman Rick Radillo.

To help residents protect themselves and their property against mudslide damage, Keim suggests cleaning storm drains, making sure water has a clear path to the street and stocking up on sandbags and plastic sheeting to protect soil from rainfall.

The building department is also helping residents to expedite the rebuilding process by shepherding building-permit applications through city bureaucracy, Keim said.

In September, the city began extensive disaster preparations, Keim said. “There were a lot of El Nino naysayers,” he recalled, but work went ahead anyway. “Even if nothing had happened, it is always good to be prepared.”

In San Clemente, residents on Paseo de Cristobal sought to save their possessions when a crumbling rain-sodden bluff led to evacuations of four homes.

City officials have condemned one of the homes and asked Santa Fe railroad trains to proceed through the area at 10 mph, fearing that stronger vibrations would dislodge more of the hill.

Meanwhile, Amtrak passenger train service between Los Angeles and San Diego--which had reopened Sunday after a five-day lull because of a damaged rail bridge in San Clemente--was suspended again because of a San Clemente slide Sunday. Metrolink service in the area was also canceled.

Times staff writers Eric Rimbert and Jill Leovy contributed to this story.

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Mudslide Danger

Building experts are warning homeowners that there is potential for mudslides even though it hasn’t rained in a number of days. About 50 dwellings in slide-prone areas have been red-tagged due to potential danger.

Water continues to saturate soil above bedrock, making it easier for hillsides to give way, bringing down debris and collapsed structures.