Landslide Destroys Luxury Homes in Laguna Beach, California

A reported 15 homes are said to be destroyed on June 1 in Laguna Beach, California, due to a landslide in the Bluebird Canyon area, according to the Los Angeles Times. Only minor injuries have been reported.

Approximately 20 homes may ended up being totally destroyed or severely damaged by the end of the day, and 350 homes have been evacuated, according to Pete Moraga, communications specialist for the Insurance Information Network of California. He said that there have been reports of up to 1,000 people being displaced.

Some residents have been able to return home, while others are still struggling to find long-term housing. People were in their homes along the heavily populated Flamingo Road when the movements happened, starting between 5 and 5:30 a.m. The major movements occurred around 7 a.m.

“Most people didn’t have any inkling that this was going to happen and started hearing some of the creaking in their home [on June 1] at around 5,” Moraga said. “One lady talked about how her pipes started creaking and then heard them rupturing and she knew something was going on. This is pretty massive.”

Moraga said that the landslide is not really an insurance issue because the standard homeowners policy does not cover land movement and landslide insurance is virtually nonexistent in California.

“The problem here is that the risk of landslides is so concentrated in so few areas that there’s no way to spread that risk out,” Moraga said.

“The coverage that is available is very expensive. Traditionally it carries a 2 and a half percent deductible and is not available in areas that have a prior history of landslide. I doubt that any of these homeowners think that they have coverage for landslides because the policies are very specific. They typically exclude any type of land movement, whether it’s a landslide, mudslide or an earthquake. Because Laguna has an extensive history of landslide, chances are that most of these homes wouldn’t have any coverage,” he added.

The same area is said to have suffered from a similar landslide in October 1978, when 24 families lost their homes. All but about six rebuilt there, the Times reported. Moraga said that there have been more landslides since that time.

“It’s not something that is not known or not predictable,” Moraga said. “People know that this is an area where the land is moving. It’s unfortunate. Our hearts go out to the people, but again it’s a matter of choice. They choose to live in this area, which has an extensive history of landslides.”

Moraga said the State Office of Emergency Services has petitioned the Federal Emergency Management Agency to extend the already-declared federal disaster from California’s winter rainstorms.

“Because this landslide has been initially determined to be caused by the winter rains, the state hopes that FEMA will extend the declaration,” he said. Homeowners may see some relief if the landslide is declared a national disaster.

Topics California Homeowners