Spring Valley Family Evicted by Mudslide

Katie Pullin made her way through her Spring Valley home Thursday to the rear room where her family used to converge in front of a fireplace to keep warm on rainy days.

But, over the past week, all that has changed for the Pullins, who have experienced a natural disaster in their own back yard.

What started as a crack in a retaining wall has grown into a miniature avalanche of muddy earth that by Monday had broken through boards and shattered glass as it pushed its way into the family’s home.

“It’s part of nature’s work, and it’s part of the work of the people who made the house,” explained the 12-year-old who shares the home with her mother, little sister and grandfather.

The rear room now stands empty as mounds of earth have replaced the furniture that Katie and her family once used. The outside wall is slowly tilting up from the bottom, like a huge garage door.

“You can hear it moaning and groaning. It’s like this living thing,” said Red Cross spokeswoman Nancy Jordan.

Driven out of their home, the Pullins will spend the next week and maybe longer in a Lemon Grove hotel, courtesy of the Red Cross. The family will now have to determine whether insurance will foot the bill, or whether Red Cross can step in and help them recover their back yard.

“I’m just hoping the insurance will help me so I can go back to my house,” said Lenora Pullin, Katie’s mother. “There’s just no place like home.”

Whether insurance will cover the cost of removing the dirt and repairing her home is a question that Lenora Pullin is not pondering alone. The moving mound of earth, now covered by huge white tarps, is creeping into her neighbors’ yards as well.

“Watching my yard slowly get devoured by the mud has just been relentless,” said Linda Hansen, a next-door neighbor.

Hansen said she and four other families whose homes--including ones uphill from hers--are affected by the mudslide have hired a consultant to determine what can be done to remedy the disaster. The $60,000 decision has Hansen worried over who will pay.

“My personal concern is that it’s going to be a personal liability on us,” said Hansen, who estimates her home is worth about $120,000.

Ed Hansen, her husband, said he believes the landslide was triggered by recent rains that soaked the previously drought-ridden hillside.

Whatever the cause, the tragic turn of events has left Katie Pullin wishing she and her family had never moved into the home where they’ve lived for eight years.

“The dog still has a house to stand in, but we don’t,” Pullin said.