Some Residents Get OK to Move Back to Slide Area

Eight weeks after a massive landslide forced the evacuation of 45 Anaheim Hills houses, city officials on Wednesday told some residents they can start moving back home next week.

“The efforts we have taken have reduced the danger in the slide area to a degree where we are comfortable with allowing people back in,” said Bret Colson, a spokesman for the city.

The evacuation order will be rescinded on an street-by-street basis over the next six weeks, Colson said. Before any home can be reoccupied, the city must have repaired the sewage line, and water service must be re-established.

City officials have told evacuated residents that although they did not see a “strong likelihood of dangerous ground movement in the foreseeable future, no one has guaranteed that such movement cannot occur again.” If it does, Colson said, evacuations will be reordered.

It was mostly good news for residents, many of whom have been living with friends and relatives or renting second homes after the evacuation. At least three residents, however, face the possibility that their houses may be condemned because of the severity of the damage.

Colson said the number of severely damaged homes may rise as more inspections are completed.

“Our private hell is coming to an end,” said Gail Turner, who along with her husband, Jeff, has been living in a friend’s condo since they were evacuated. “It’s been really scary. And I guess we’ll have to worry about every creaking, cracking sound for the rest of our lives, but at least we have our home.”