Tracking the Slide : New Cracks Spotted in Hillside : La Conchita Residents Salvage Valuables as More Slides Appear Likely

As residents rescued pets, papers and prized possessions from mud-swamped homes in the beach community of La Conchita, Ventura County emergency officials warned Monday that newly spotted hillside tension cracks show that further landslides in the area are probable.

While a 600,000-ton, two-story-high landslide oozed further downhill Monday morning, geologists were spotting signs of imminent landslides on neighboring slopes. Another heavy rainstorm is forecast to hit the coast Wednesday.

“We’re really concerned that everyone’s going to let their guard down because the sun is out,” Sheriff’s Cmdr. Richard Purnell warned nearly 200 La Conchita residents who squeezed into a briefing tent.

Nearly all had voluntarily evacuated from 75 homes in the neighborhoods directly downhill from the shaky mud slopes after Saturday’s slide crushed nine homes and left nine more unusable or abandoned.

“This is not a static situation,” added Sheriff’s Lt. Arve Wells. “It’s dynamic and it’s continuing. . . . This is an unstable site.”

New tension cracks split the wet earth Monday on slopes on either side of the original slide area. These were sure signs that those hillsides could collapse at any time, destroying more homes below, said Robert Anderson, the county’s geologist.

“This is the first day I’ve got to look at it really clearly,” Anderson said, stepping off a sheriff’s helicopter upon landing, after flying close to the shifting slopes that were shrouded by rain clouds on earlier flights. “What we found today was quite a few extensive cracks--at least six inches wide.”

Meanwhile, County Supervisor Maggie Kildee announced that state and federal aid would be coming to La Conchita residents.

She said that county officials successfully tied the landslide to the disaster declared in January’s devastating floods.

But Sheriff Larry Carpenter said that much is still unknown--such as how long residents will be kept out of their homes, and how many houses might have to be abandoned to the crumbling earth.

“You’re crying, you’re upset, you’re frustrated at the government. You want to know who could have stopped this,” he said. “You have a lot of questions. . . . I don’t know how this is going to happen, but I do know that some decisions will be made about the livability of the homes in this area.”

Resident Dick Klock walked slowly away from the meeting, a distant look in his eye. He and his wife, Corinne, had sprinted out the front door of their Vista Del Rincon Drive home Saturday as the huge wall of mud began crushing it from behind.

Now, the retired telephone worker said he was staying at a Red Cross shelter in Ventura, poring over his insurance policy and trying to figure out what comes next.

“I don’t know,” he said absently. “It’s starting to hit me now.”

George and Chris Caputo walked boldly up to their house, which lay crushed at crazy angles under tons of dirt.

George Caputo, 56, put his foot up on the 45-degree floor of his house, preparing to crawl inside and retrieve a pair of eyeglasses and the family portrait his children gave the couple on their 25th wedding anniversary.

But emergency workers grabbed him, saying there was no point risking his life. The house creaked audibly under the weight of the landslide.

Caputo squinted at a brand-new gas grill that sat tantalizingly close to the buckled sun porch.

“If I could get a pole, we could get that Weber,” he said wistfully.

“Dad,” pleaded his son, Randy. “That thing cost $350. We could get another one and then we could have barbecues TOGETHER.”

Chris Caputo, 50, retrieved a painted wood sea gull that broke loose in the slide after standing sentinel on her porch for 10 years.

“I’ve always loved it,” she said with a sad smile. “Today’s my Mom’s birthday. What I got for her is in my kitchen, and it’s pancaked, so I think I’ll give her this.”

Next door, Mary Lou Olson rushed from her house, hunched over the panicked cat that was struggling in her arms.

“I left all the doors open in the house hoping she’d come back and she did,” said Olson. The cat’s claws dug into her arms as she hurried past roaring skip loaders that were moving mud. “She’s just terrified.”

*

A few minutes later, a county animal control worker helped Olson bundle green-eyed, ash-gray Emma Jane into a cage for safekeeping until they could find the cat a temporary home.

Throughout the afternoon, vans and pickup trucks drove up the hill to be loaded by residents moving furniture and belongings to safety.

Don Chiapuzio managed to pull clothing, furniture and other items out of his home on Vista Del Rincon Drive, where crumpled houses next door teetered close to his. He shuttled everything down to a neighbor’s house for safekeeping.

Then, on Monday afternoon there was another small slide. Several tons of earth broke loose and tumbled down the concave face of the landslide, but did not damage any houses.

“We’re moving everything down to this house, and they moved the rope,” Chiapuzio said in disbelief. “I don’t want to lose this house too!”

Startled residents tried to laugh off the fresh landslide.

“I’ve got a surfboard,” cracked Russ Brazelton. “We could get the helicopter to drop us up there. We’ll just drop in off the top and shred.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

La Conchita Landslide Underground springs continue to saturate the hillside above La Conchita, making the soil increasingly unstable after Saturday’s landslide destroyed nine homes. Cracks are showing on either side of the slide, sure signs that part or all of the hillside could collapse. Water atop the landslide and several mudflows to its right add to the instability. *

Sun- dried loosened earth slid in thi area Monday afternoon. *

Constant saturation by ground water leaves these slopes in imminent danger of sliding. *

Rainwater pooled atop original slide making unstable. *

600,000 tons of earth collapsed, destroying 9 homes on Saturday. Source: Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, RJR Engineering Group