PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Two homes on NW Thurman Street have been evacuated due to a landslide.
A crack is visible in the 3400 block of the street, where neighbors tell KOIN 6 News it has dropped an inch or two every day for a month.
One of the homes has been ‘yellow tagged’ by the city, meaning the homeowners can enter and grab their belongings. Next door, the home’s foundation is too damaged and homeowners aren’t even allowed in for a moment.
Another homeowner on the street, whose home was not damaged, says the neighbors heard cracking one night.
“It was about 11 o’clock one night, they started hearing a lot of creaking and shifting and movement, and it kinda freaked them out. So they started packing that night,” Frank Binnendyck tells KOIN 6 News.
They were right to trust their instincts. The homeowner called city engineers who confirmed the slide had damaged the home. The Bureau of Development Services says the heavy winter rain triggered a dormant landslide that hasn’t been active for over 60 years.
“After this very wet winter, we have an old deep-seated landslide that’s started to move some more,” Ross Caron with BDS says. “It’s put them in a situation where our bureau needed to post them as unsafe to occupy.”
The homeowners weren’t aware of the landslide threat and are responsible for paying for the damages.
