A state of emergency has been declared in the City of Rancho Palos Verdes, where landslides continue to sink homes across the peninsula.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Tuesday declaration came after Southern California Edison shut off electricity to 145 homes in the Portuguese Bend and Seaview neighborhoods. Authorities are concerned that the earth’s movement could cause a wildfire if the power lines are not shut off.
Land beneath RPV has been slowly shifting for decades, but the movement has accelerated due to heavy winter storms over the past two years. According to the Governor’s office, the Palos Verdes Peninsula “is now sliding at an average of 9 to 12 inches per week.”
City Council member Barbara Ferraro called the situation “unprecedented,” adding that “no one knows really, in a way, what to do.”
The declaration of emergency will allow state resources to be directed toward the threat of landslides in the city. It “comes just at the right time as people are not only seeing their homes crumble around them, but have now also been cut off from power,” Los Angeles Supervisor Janice Hahn said. “This situation is bigger than the City or even the County.”