Subdivision watches and waits as rain falls 
By Michelle Mondo and Jennifer Hiller - Express-News

Thursday’s rain failed to trigger any additional ground shifting at a Northwest Side subdivision, but authorities planned to continue to monitor overnight a collapsed retaining wall that threatened to further damage several homes.

         
         A man stands between homes above
         a collapsed retaining wall in The Hills
         of Rivermist.

“Nothing significant has happened because of the rain,” Centex Homes spokeswoman Caryn Klebba said at about 7 p.m. Thursday. “We have had just a little bit of shifting, but right now we’re monitoring the site continuously. There are people there through the night because of heavier rains to make sure everything stays in place.”

Meanwhile, a lawsuit against The Hills of Rivermist’s developer, Centex Homes, and its parent company, Pulte Homes Inc., was filed Thursday in Bexar County’s 37th state District Court.

Hilliard Munoz Guerra LLP filed the lawsuit on behalf of Luis and Janice Jimenez, who moved into their home on Arbor Mesa in June 2006, according to court documents. The lawsuit makes claims of negligence and fraud.

Klebba declined to comment about the lawsuit, saying Centex had not seen the lawsuit.

Centex and San Antonio city officials continued to investigate the soil shift, which caused the nearly 30-foot-tall retaining wall to collapse on Sunday. Authorities evacuated 91 homes and since have allowed most families to return, but the city declared 25 homes near the area too unsafe to occupy.

Centex officials theorized that shifting clay under the wall caused its collapse.

On Thursday, the San Antonio Water System said it tested water seeping from the hillside to try to determine the source — either potable, rain or from a spring. But it had ruled out any sewer line leaks flooding the area, said Anne Hayden, a SAWS spokeswoman.

“It doesn’t seem like it’s coming from our lines,” Hayden said about the seeping water. “I think everyone would like to know what the mystery is.”

Rain that fell about two weeks ago and the subsequent rising groundwater levels may have been a factor, according to Hayden.

“If there were springs they would have starting flowing,” she said.

Centex Homes workers shored up the slope Thursday and took extra precautions to prevent any further soil shifting in preparation for the storms, which National Weather Service forecasters said would last through Friday morning.

One-quarter inch of rain fell on San Antonio between midnight and 5 p.m. Thursday, sometimes halting construction crews’ work. Forecaster Amanda Fanning said the region expected about 2 inches to fall through Friday with thunderstorms and heavy winds expected along the Interstate 35 corridor.

Valerie Dolenga, a Centex spokeswoman, said part of the preparations included informing residents of the rain.

“Right now, because of the rain, we’re just monitoring the soil and any potential movement,” Dolenga said. “The ground has pretty much stopped moving as of late Monday or early Tuesday, but the rain could possibly cause some shifting.”

Authorities said firefighters patrolled the neighborhood about once an hour, closely monitoring any impact the rain might have on the slope.

Rod Sanchez, the city’s director of Planning and Development Services, said the city and Centex met Thursday morning to continue going over the plans submitted by the homebuilder that detailed the engineering of the wall.

“We basically introduced our structural engineer and asked questions about the design,” he said. “On Friday, our plan is to get back on site to look (at the wall) with the plans that we have.”

The soil movement crushed sewer lines near the three houses at the top of the slope. But those sewer lines were plugged Monday, and SAWS used listening devices to make sure water didn't move through pipes in the areas most affected by the ground movement.

Sewer lines for other homes nearby do not flow toward the retaining wall. But as a precaution, SAWS manually bypassed sewer lines and had workers at the neighborhood since Sunday, Hayden said.

Several of Rivermist’s residents contacted Thursday declined to speak to the media on advice of attorneys.

Yvette Herrera, 40, said she also retained an attorney and became more frustrated as the days passed. She and her daughter, 7, just moved into their home on Treewell Glen six months ago. They were part of the mandatory evacuation and were told their home could be one of the five to sustain extreme structural damage.

Herrera stayed with a friend and her daughter lived with her father.

“I’m very dissatisfied with what has transpired and the fact that they haven’t communicated with me considering I am one of the five directly in the damaged area,” she said. “I’m pretty much left to fend for myself at this point. For a single mom having to work full time it’s not a good position for me to be in.”

Staff writer Eva Ruth Moravec contributed to this report.
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