Creeping Landslide Endangers Hercules Homes

HERCULES (CBS SF) - The Hercules City Council is considering declaring a local state of emergency to secure state funding to stop a landslide that has rendered four homes uninhabitable and is threatening four more.

A grassy foothill in the 200 block of Carson Street has been slowly creeping into homes for years, but recent rainstorms have sped up its progress, city spokeswoman Michelle Harrington said.

"The hill has basically come into the homes," Harrington said.

Last week, the city red-tagged four homes, all of which had previously been vacated because of the slide, and disconnected the utilities to those homes.

KCBS' Dave Padilla Reports:

The homes, which have broken windows from the hill's intrusion, are now serving as a retaining wall to prevent the earth from moving into the street, Harrington said.

On Monday, the city's chief building official yellow-tagged four more homes that are now being threatened by the slide.

Those homes were occupied, but now residents are prohibited from spending the night there, Harrington said.

City crews were working to put up cement walls along the street Tuesday to help hold the hillside back and prevent the homes from moving toward the street, Harrington said.

The hillside itself is privately owned and it is not the city's responsibility to stop the slide, but city officials are hoping to secure some emergency funding to help the residents.

The City Council was set tp consider a resolution to declare a local emergency at its City Hall meeting Tuesday at 6 p.m.

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