In Rolling Hills Estates, known as a wealthy residence in Los Angeles County, California, more than 10 luxury homes collapsed one after another, forcing residents to evacuate in a hurry.
According to the Los Angeles County Fire Department and the City of Rolling Hills Estate on the 11th, ground movement has occurred in some housing complexes in the area since the 8th. As a result, the walls of 12 houses built on the ground began to crack and collapse, and a red alert was issued. 16 residents were evacuated from their homes, and luckily there were no casualties.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department said in a social media notice on the 10th that “10 of the houses with red alerts are still moving,” and “an additional 16 are under surveillance.”
“The speed at which the houses were destroyed was shocking,” said Janice Hahn, chairman of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. “There are still many things we don’t know about this situation,” She added. However, she said, “I think that with the heavy rains we experienced last winter, especially after a drought, the water that flowed underground could have moved the ground as it put pressure on it.”
In Southern California, including LA County, heavy rains fell 11 times from the end of December last year to March of this year, causing flooding in various places. The southwest area of Los Angeles County, where the Rolling Hills Estate is located, is mostly hilly and at high altitude, so there was little damage from flooding, but it is possible that the ground has been weakened by record rainfall.
Rolling Hills Estate is a residential city on the Palos Verdis Peninsula in southwestern Los Angeles County, with a population of about 8,000 and a median household income of about $160,000 as of 2021.