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'Slope Failure' Causes Evacuation
San Antonio fire officials spent Sunday night monitoring what they are now calling a "slope failure" in a northwest side neighborhood...some places the earth has shifted causing openings 8 to 10 feet deep and several feet wide... the ground is still shifting at a rate of 4 inches every hour and that it was a possibility that some of the homes could collapse. "I wouldn't be surprised to wake up Monday morning and see some of these homes broken and falling down part of the hill," said Kidd.
'Slope Failure' Causes Evacuation
Sunday, January 24, 2010
SAN ANTONIO -- San Antonio fire officials spent Sunday night monitoring what they are now calling a "slope failure" in a northwest side neighborhood.
The failure forced the evacuation of 20 homes on Sunday.
Fire officials said the incident started Saturday night when residents began hearing sounds around their homes.
Fire officials said they came out Sunday morning and saw land beginning to shift and separate underneath three homes.
Nim Kidd, the city's emergency manager, said the ground is separating behind the homes at a rapid pace.
Kidd said in some places the earth has shifted causing openings 8 to 10 feet deep and several feet wide.
"We've all seen the stuff happening in California and how fast the earth can move. What we don't want is people back in their homes during that time. We need a lot more people out here to help us understand how far this can move," Kidd said.
Kidd said late Sunday night the ground is still shifting at a rate of 4 inches every hour and that it was a possibility that some of the homes could collapse.
"I wouldn't be surprised to wake up Monday morning and see some of these homes broken and falling down part of the hill," said Kidd.
While Kidd said they are unsure what caused the earth to shift, Jeff Neathery, a geologist with DNA Geosciences said it is likely not a sinkhole.
"The feature does not appear to exhibit properties you would normally see with a sinkhole," said Neathery.
Neathery said it's more likely some sort of slope failure, which can be caused by natural or man-made forces.
Neathery said there is no way to know for sure what caused the slope to fail.
One of the builders of homes in the area, Pulte Homes, brought out an engineer to try and figure out what to do next.
"Obviously our primary concern is the residents and we are working very diligently to get to the root cause of the problem," said Laurin Darnell with Pulte Homes.
Pulte Homes set up an information line for residents. That number is (210) 389-2042.
The situation has left many residents very frustrated.
Eugene Dumais, who lives below the failing hill, said the retaining wall has been a problem since he moved in.
"They told us they were going to reengineer the wall, get it built correctly. I hope they do it right," said Dumais.
About 6 p.m. Sunday police started to scale back the evacuation area and started allowing some people in.
About 20 families near the slope failure are still displaced. The Red Cross has opened a shelter at O'Connor High School's agriculutre center in Helotes.
Centex Homes is also paying for some to stay in hotels.
http://www.ksat.com/news/22328363/detail.html
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