LOS ANGELES — A landslide reduced a Los Angeles home under renovation to a jumble of wood, pulled the pool and deck away from a second home and left the pool early Wednesday at a third home on the edge of a massive canyon.
The landslide occurred just before 3 a.m. in Sherman Oaks, a neighborhood of expensive homes about 12 miles (19 kilometers) northwest of downtown. An initial search found no victims, but several people were evacuated from one home, the Los Angeles Fire Department said in a statement.
There was no immediate word on what caused the landslide, but numerous landslides have occurred in Southern California due to intense winter storms that soaked the ground.
Since January 1, downtown LA has received almost 41 inches of rain, which is almost double what normally falls this time of year. By early February, the city had reported nearly 600 mudslides, re-marked 16 buildings as unsafe to enter and yellow-tagged more than 30 others, restricting access to them.
A news helicopter video revealed the extent of the slide. The destroyed house, which appeared to be in the middle of a renovation, was crushed with most of the roof lying on the ground. Next door, the slide pulled a pool and patio away from a house.
Up the hill the slide left a tennis court and swimming pool on the edge of a huge gorge. A table and chairs that used to be near the pool were on a patch of terrace on the other side of the yawning gorge. Firefighters cleared the pool to reduce the weight on the hill.
“The Ministry of Construction and Safety is responding to assess the structures and slopes,” the fire brigade said.
In Southern California, storms have subsided in recent days, but rock slides and falls have continued. Parts of the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu and State Route 27 through Topanga Canyon west of Los Angeles were particularly hard hit.
South of LA, a remarkable slide in the town of Dana Point left an ocean-view estate perched on the edge of a coastal cliff.
Some rain could fall again this weekend, the National Weather Service said.
