4 San Clemente apartment buildings red-tagged, still in peril after landslide
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. (KABC) -- About two dozen people forced to flee San Clemente apartment buildings endangered by a tumbling oceanside hill were warned Thursday that they may be evacuated indefinitely.
Four apartment buildings in the 1500 block of Buena Vista were evacuated Wednesday and have been red-tagged indefinitely due to a landslide that left the back of the structures in danger of crumbling down the hillside.
Authorities said there was no timetable for declaring the slope stable enough for residents to return.
"I think everyone should understand we have a dynamic situation here," Mayor Chris Duncan said during a news conference Thursday. "We have another rainstorm coming, the ground is continuing to move, so these structures are still in peril."
Duncan said the situation will be a long-term process.
RELATED: 4 San Clemente apartment buildings evacuated due to landslide
The White House Thursday approved a request for Orange County to be included in the federal emergency declaration resulting from recent storms. That will free up federal resources for people affected by the landslide, Rep. Mike Levin said.
Twenty to 30 residents were evacuated. Some were briefly allowed back home on Thursday to move out their belongings. The city says these residents were given little to no notice to evacuate when the properties were deemed unsafe.
California has been hit with 11 atmospheric rivers in a virtually nonstop series that has sparked floods and landslides, toppled trees, stranded mountain dwellers in historically deep snow and downed power lines, leaving thousands without electricity.
Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley said the county had seen more than $4 million in storm damage, and the figure will escalate.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
