Fear Has Yet to Settle Two Years After Landslides : Disaster: ‘The threat is always there’ for the dozens evacuated from their Anaheim Hills homes on this date in 1993.

At first glance, all appears quiet along Avenida de Santiago, a winding road that meanders among the hills of this upscale community.

But the heavy January rains that flooded parts of Orange County revived painful memories and renewed deep fears among many residents here.

“When it rains, I get a knot in my stomach,” said Sicily Joseph recently, as she stood in the doorway of her custom-built home. “Rain always gave me such delight. But now, the joy of hearing water drop on the roof is no longer there. Life has changed.”

It was two years ago today that Joseph and dozens of her neighbors were hastily evacuated from their homes after two weeks of unrelenting winter rains saturated the rolling hillsides and triggered a 25-acre landslide.

“A policeman came to my door and said, ‘The earth is moving’ and we had to go,” Joseph recalled this week. “We didn’t return for 3 1/2 months.”

The slide moved more than 14 inches in some places, splitting foundations, breaking apart walls and cracking open swimming pools.

The movement was finally slowed when underground pumps and drains were installed to help stabilize the land by pumping millions of gallons of ground water from the rain-soaked hillside. But more than $5 million worth of damage had already been done.

Geologists who examined the area for the city after the disaster found that the heavy rainfall had lubricated an ancient landslide, speeding existing slippage in the ground.

Fortunately, the recent rainstorms apparently did not cause any further sliding, Anaheim spokesman Brett Colson said.

“We have a geological firm closely monitoring the situation, especially in light of these rains,” Colson said. “So far, we have seen no (new) movement.”

But nervous residents aren’t all persuaded.

“The threat is always there and it’s pretty scary,” said resident Maryann Adams, 35. “Whenever it rains, we all get very nervous and the neighbors start talking to each other. We check for any more leakage, cracks in the street.”

Said resident Kathy Wiggam: “Every time it rains, we get calls from friends or family members who ask us if we are moving.”

But storms are not the only reminder of the disaster two years ago. There are the visible scars in the neighborhood, including cracks on the sidewalks and streets.

And most significantly for residents--many who worked for years to purchase their dream homes worth between $300,000 and $1.5 million--there is the economic uncertainty.

The neighborhood has a handful of empty homes that have been condemned or abandoned by their owners. In one small cul-de-sac off Avenida de Santiago, two of four homes--all with panoramic views--sit empty.

Wiggam and other residents have helplessly watched the value of their homes plummet.

“There are not a lot of homes selling and those that have are at a dramatically reduced price,” said Michael Clayton, 51. “You hate to be paying on a mortgage like I am, knowing you are not going to get it back. Banks and insurance companies have very little sympathy for you.”

Joseph finds herself in a similar situation.

“We have no option but to stay here,” she said. “I tell my friends, ‘If the house falls down the hill, I will go with it and wherever it lands, that’s where I will live--even if it’s on the freeway.’ ”

The empty houses themselves are haunting.

“I don’t think this place will ever be back to normal,” sighed Joseph, who lives near three of the abandoned dwellings. “We don’t have a next-door neighbor and the family across the street is gone.”

Wiggam, 43, complains about one now-dilapidated home near the base of the landslide, where 2-year-old debris litters the driveway.

“I’d like to have it knocked down,” she said. “I walk by it every day and it’s become an eyesore.

“I don’t know what happened to the people that lived there. They had moved in only a few months before it all happened. We went across the street and helped them move out as their walls were cracking.”

In all, 46 homes were evacuated and residents were not allowed to move back until their property passed tests of water and sewer lines, and foundations were checked for dangerous cracks caused by ground movement.

The first sign of the landslide was reported to the city in June, 1992, when residents told officials about cracking in walls and streets. Between July of that year and early January, 1993, the hill moved about an inch.

But after a series of winter storms that month, the hill moved about an inch a day over the course of two weeks.

There have been 17 lawsuits filed against the city because of the landslide. They involve 250 homes, 465 individuals and one homeowners association. All lawsuits are still pending and are not expected to get to trial for two years.

“We believe the city had prior knowledge of the landslide,” said Clayton, who is part of a class-action suit against the city.

City Atty. Jack L. White said Anaheim denies having any liability for the landslide and ensuing damage.

A comprehensive report from the geological firm of Eberhart and Stone is expected to be completed within a month. The report will tell the city whether the condition of the hillside has stabilized and if any “remedial measures” should be taken to achieve further stabilization, White said.

Residents said the situation has drawn some neighbors closer as they unite in their battles against the city and insurance companies.

But, they say, the human toll has been tremendous.

“It put a strain on marriages and relationships and was very upsetting,” Wiggam said. “There have been divorces, you’ve watched your friends and neighbors go and you don’t know if you should go or stay.”

It is certainly not the same neighborhood that Joseph moved her family to 12 years ago.

“It’s a haunted place,” she said. “I don’t see kids playing outside anymore. There were always friendly exchanges between neighbors and laughter. You don’t see any of that now.”