Life on a Bucking Landslide on the Portuguese Bend
“It reminds me of the Wild West. People are just saying screw it, I’m going to do what I need to do.” — Geologist Mike Phipps by Chelsea Sektnan When Southern California Edison cut power to 140 Portuguese Bend homes, and the sewage system on September 1, resident Guy Grant brought in three generators from his painting business to keep the sewage pumps running. “They can’t mess with us—we’re going to get this done,” Grant told his grateful neighbors. “It’s been really impressive to see all the neighbors pulling together,” lifetime Portuguese Bend resident Tony Baker said. “We live here because we love the area and, like a lot of people have said, where else would we go?” “We noticed a tiny little crack in December…. By April, it was 50 feet wide, and we had to bulldoze it.” — Portuguese Bend resident Sheri Hasting describing the loss of her horse barn. SCE cut off the power to the area days after a line brought down by land movement sparked a fire. In recent months, the land has been moving up to one-foot per week. City officials approved home construction in the Portuguese Bend, Altamura Canyon area, overlooking Abalone Cove in the 1950s, despite its history of landslides. “My…
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