[Howlin]

Ping!

[steveo]

Expensive loss. Imagine not being able to rebuild your house because the land isn't there anymore!

[Mr. Mojo]

at least five expensive homes

Nine now, according to FOX News.

...and there could be a lot more to come.

[ctlpdad]

Dirt is a fluid. If you buid a house on a non-level fluid, this is exactly what you would expect, unless you are rich enough to uphold the law of gravity.

[kingu]

Channel 11: Are you honoring the evacuation order?

Caller: No, well, not yet - the only reason why I'm still here is with the power out, I can't open my garage door.

(sigh)

[maggief]

[Sloth]

[AgThorn]

Laguna Beach Homes Destroyed in Slide

By Don Kelsen
Times Staff Writer

June 1, 2005, 11:53 AM EDT

Homes slid down a hill in Laguna Beach shortly after dawn this morning, with live television showing images of large homes dangling into the air, foundations exposed by the moving earth.

There were reports of minor injuries. An eyewitness said at least 15 homes appeared to be totally destroyed.

The slide is in the area of Bluebird Canyon where a huge slide consumed a neighborhood on Oct. 1, 1978. A total of 24 families lost homes in that slide, and all but about six rebuilt there.

An hour after today's slide was reported, land was still moving along Flamingo Road. Television viewers saw a large tree fall over the yawning chasm. Lifeguards were among the first to respond, along with and police and firefighters

Heavy rains in the winter of 1977-78 slowly percolated down inside the hillside, making a subterranean grease slick of what had been a 1 1/2-inch thick layer of clay. About 3 1/2 acres of earth 50 feet thick slid in one massive chunk, which was compared to the top half of a layer cake slipping on the frosting below.

Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.

[Dog Gone]

I'm at home today supervising some plumbing work. The video on Fox News is amazing.

[Not A Snowbird]

This is what happens when you perch an expensive home on the side of a mountain.

I've been driving through Laguna for years, looking up at those homes and wondering how long it would take for them to come crashing down.

[USAFJeeper]

Rich California types building in stupid areas. Count me low on the sympathy scale. They probably voted for Kerry and think Babs is an amazing talent.

[mewzilla]

Matthew 7:26.

[NonValueAdded]

The victims of the mudslide were shocked and outraged when presented with the heavy fines for not properly registering their mobile homes.

[al baby]

For those who are from Rio Linda

[Veto!]

Laguna Beach is as lovely a place to live as there is. Who can blame people for wanting to live there? but for heaven's sake, if they're wealthy enough to build palaces on the bluffs, why didn't they build on pylons going down to bedrock? Would have cost a fortune, of course, but saved a fortune as well.

Are these millionaires counting on insurance or FEMA to bail them out, essentially with everyone else's money?

Lawsuits will go on for years, imo, with fingers pointed at architects, city inspectors, soil inspectors, etc etc.

[TexasKamaAina]

Landslides in California is news?

[Cyber Liberty]

Ping!

[MinuteGal]

I hope a housewife in one of those kitchens wasn't baking an upside-down cake. It'll turn out right-side up and her family will complain.

Seriously, I feel bad for those poor folks, whether it's a bad idea to live there or not.

Leni

[MoochPooch]

My stepmother lives in the Laguna Beach area (& some of her friends). I'd better give her a call.

[Physicist]

Well, there goes the neighborhood.