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CNN Live Today

Mudslide Danger

Aired February 23, 2005 - 11:18   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We've been watching and listening in to President Bush as he addresses the troops at Wiesbaden Army Airfield in Germany, part of his five-day European tour. President Bush talking and encouraging soldiers to take the fight to the enemy.
Must more on President Bush's trip and his speech to the troops ahead. Also, a lot of other news happening today. And we will get to that after a break.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. I.D. theft, it's happening more and more. And consumers are getting angry about it. In fact, we're going to tell you how to fight against attackers stealing your identity or worse.

KAGAN: And the weather in the West is still causing concern for residents and their homes. We'll have an update when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: We're going to move on now to the weather in southern California, the waterlogged West. More rain fell on soggy southern California today. The state is struggling to recover from six days of stormy weather that sent homes sliding down saturated hillsides. And authorities are worried about more mudslides.

Dozens of homes have been red-tagged. That means they are so unstable they could collapse at anytime. One of the communities on the edge literally because of the threat of mudslides is Highland Park in Los Angeles.

Our Chris Lawrence is there with more on the stormy weather and what these homeowners face.

Chris, hello.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rainy, like torrential rain, for the last couple hours. It seeped into our equipment. And that's kind of how things have been going. We'll get an intense burst of rain, and then it will completely clear up. And it's definitely playing a little bit of havoc with some of our equipment.

But here again, dangerous situations still in some of these homes. And the woman who lives right here didn't need anybody to tell her that. Patricia Prole literally walked outside and saw her swimming pool and half her deck just go sliding right down the mountain.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE (voice-over): About the only thing worst than watching your back yard disappear is hearing it happen.

PATRICIA PROLE, TOLD TO EVACUATE: It sounded like between an earthquake and thunder.

LAWRENCE: Patricia Prole says she could feel the ground give way.

PROLE: And there was a very strong smell of wet earth.

LAWRENCE: The rain had been chipping away at the foundation until their back yard finally broke loose.

PROLE: It was a horrible sound. It was a horrible, horrible sound. And I looked out over the deck and -- to see if we lost anymore land, and we realized we lost all of it.

LAWRENCE: Many parts of California have seen six straight days of rain. And with this storm still sitting over Los Angeles, it's already the third wettest year in history. The water has flooded roads, carved out sinkholes, and sent runoff rushing down the canyons. The weather has killed at least six people in southern California, which puts even the loss of property into perspective.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're lucky. We're alive.

LAWRENCE: As Patricia packed up and left, so did her next door neighbor. As if losing the back yards wasn't bad enough, Mark Lacanilao is worried about their home's cement foundation.

MARK LACANILAO, TOLD TO EVACUATE: Our house share the same slab. So they have a big crack running right along the middle, and it runs right straight into my kitchen too.

LAWRENCE: He's hoping it can all hold together just long enough to let the last of the storm blow through.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE: Yes, the sun is trying to poke through right now. And we've had a couple hour of dry weather. And a lot of folks around here sure hope that will last.

But firefighters tell me, even after the rain completely stops, this ground has been so saturated with water that it can continue to collapse and slide. So it may be a while before they can actually really get in there and give a really good assessment as to how strong the foundation really is -- Rick, Daryn.

KAGAN: All right. Chris Lawrence, from Highland Park in Los Angeles. Thank you.

SANCHEZ: There is a bit of an ominous sight that people have been looking at there in California. This is right on top of Pacific Coast Highway. If you've ever driven that highway, you know what happens when it gets stuck. There's really no other way around it.

It's a boulder that is said to way more than two million pounds, and it's sitting right on edge and could possibly come tumbling down. So obviously, officials there are watching it. So is Eric Spillman of station KTLA. Here's the report he filed just moments ago on this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIC SPILLMAN, REPORTER, KTLA: Now, how are they going to get this rock out of here? Well, the experts are saying that what they're planning to do is let gravity bring it down onto PCH. In other words, they're hoping that it just falls onto the road here, and then they can bring in crews who are experts in blasting away large boulders.

They'll drill holes in it, they'll put the dynamite in, they'll break it up into little pieces, and then they'll cart it away. When that's going to happen is anybody's guess -- Makayla (ph), Carlos.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Well, I don't know about Makayla (ph) and Carlos, but we'll take it from him. That's Eric Spillman telling us about that huge boulder that's sitting above there just above Pacific Coast Highway. It's in Malibu, by the way.

We will have a complete forecast for California, as well as the rest of the country. That's going to be coming up in just a couple of minutes.

KAGAN: You know, that is a big pain for people who live out Malibu way because that PCH, that is basically their one way into town to go to work.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Kind of like in the Florida Keys.

KAGAN: Yes.

SANCHEZ: You get one road and that's it.

KAGAN: One way in and one way out.

SANCHEZ: U.S. 1.

KAGAN: Let's check in on business news. Susan Lisovicz doing that. She found her way to work today.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We're at the half-hour point. So let's bring you up to date on what's been going on over the last couple of hours.

President Bush has just finished speaking to U.S. troops based in Germany. We brought that to you right here on CNN. He thanked the 1st Armored Division for its 15 months of service in Iraq. Earlier today, Mr. Bush met with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Both leaders pressed Iran to give up its nuclear program.

A welcomed forecast in southern California. Finally, the skies are starting to clear up. This after seven straight days of rain. So much rain, in fact, that Los Angeles now has its third wettest season on record. Residents have been forced out of dozens of homes that are teetering on muddy hillsides.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired February 23, 2005 - 11:18   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We've been watching and listening in to President Bush as he addresses the troops at Wiesbaden Army Airfield in Germany, part of his five-day European tour. President Bush talking and encouraging soldiers to take the fight to the enemy.
Must more on President Bush's trip and his speech to the troops ahead. Also, a lot of other news happening today. And we will get to that after a break.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. I.D. theft, it's happening more and more. And consumers are getting angry about it. In fact, we're going to tell you how to fight against attackers stealing your identity or worse.

KAGAN: And the weather in the West is still causing concern for residents and their homes. We'll have an update when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: We're going to move on now to the weather in southern California, the waterlogged West. More rain fell on soggy southern California today. The state is struggling to recover from six days of stormy weather that sent homes sliding down saturated hillsides. And authorities are worried about more mudslides.

Dozens of homes have been red-tagged. That means they are so unstable they could collapse at anytime. One of the communities on the edge literally because of the threat of mudslides is Highland Park in Los Angeles.

Our Chris Lawrence is there with more on the stormy weather and what these homeowners face.

Chris, hello.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rainy, like torrential rain, for the last couple hours. It seeped into our equipment. And that's kind of how things have been going. We'll get an intense burst of rain, and then it will completely clear up. And it's definitely playing a little bit of havoc with some of our equipment.

But here again, dangerous situations still in some of these homes. And the woman who lives right here didn't need anybody to tell her that. Patricia Prole literally walked outside and saw her swimming pool and half her deck just go sliding right down the mountain.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE (voice-over): About the only thing worst than watching your back yard disappear is hearing it happen.

PATRICIA PROLE, TOLD TO EVACUATE: It sounded like between an earthquake and thunder.

LAWRENCE: Patricia Prole says she could feel the ground give way.

PROLE: And there was a very strong smell of wet earth.

LAWRENCE: The rain had been chipping away at the foundation until their back yard finally broke loose.

PROLE: It was a horrible sound. It was a horrible, horrible sound. And I looked out over the deck and -- to see if we lost anymore land, and we realized we lost all of it.

LAWRENCE: Many parts of California have seen six straight days of rain. And with this storm still sitting over Los Angeles, it's already the third wettest year in history. The water has flooded roads, carved out sinkholes, and sent runoff rushing down the canyons. The weather has killed at least six people in southern California, which puts even the loss of property into perspective.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're lucky. We're alive.

LAWRENCE: As Patricia packed up and left, so did her next door neighbor. As if losing the back yards wasn't bad enough, Mark Lacanilao is worried about their home's cement foundation.

MARK LACANILAO, TOLD TO EVACUATE: Our house share the same slab. So they have a big crack running right along the middle, and it runs right straight into my kitchen too.

LAWRENCE: He's hoping it can all hold together just long enough to let the last of the storm blow through.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE: Yes, the sun is trying to poke through right now. And we've had a couple hour of dry weather. And a lot of folks around here sure hope that will last.

But firefighters tell me, even after the rain completely stops, this ground has been so saturated with water that it can continue to collapse and slide. So it may be a while before they can actually really get in there and give a really good assessment as to how strong the foundation really is -- Rick, Daryn.

KAGAN: All right. Chris Lawrence, from Highland Park in Los Angeles. Thank you.

SANCHEZ: There is a bit of an ominous sight that people have been looking at there in California. This is right on top of Pacific Coast Highway. If you've ever driven that highway, you know what happens when it gets stuck. There's really no other way around it.

It's a boulder that is said to way more than two million pounds, and it's sitting right on edge and could possibly come tumbling down. So obviously, officials there are watching it. So is Eric Spillman of station KTLA. Here's the report he filed just moments ago on this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIC SPILLMAN, REPORTER, KTLA: Now, how are they going to get this rock out of here? Well, the experts are saying that what they're planning to do is let gravity bring it down onto PCH. In other words, they're hoping that it just falls onto the road here, and then they can bring in crews who are experts in blasting away large boulders.

They'll drill holes in it, they'll put the dynamite in, they'll break it up into little pieces, and then they'll cart it away. When that's going to happen is anybody's guess -- Makayla (ph), Carlos.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Well, I don't know about Makayla (ph) and Carlos, but we'll take it from him. That's Eric Spillman telling us about that huge boulder that's sitting above there just above Pacific Coast Highway. It's in Malibu, by the way.

We will have a complete forecast for California, as well as the rest of the country. That's going to be coming up in just a couple of minutes.

KAGAN: You know, that is a big pain for people who live out Malibu way because that PCH, that is basically their one way into town to go to work.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Kind of like in the Florida Keys.

KAGAN: Yes.

SANCHEZ: You get one road and that's it.

KAGAN: One way in and one way out.

SANCHEZ: U.S. 1.

KAGAN: Let's check in on business news. Susan Lisovicz doing that. She found her way to work today.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We're at the half-hour point. So let's bring you up to date on what's been going on over the last couple of hours.

President Bush has just finished speaking to U.S. troops based in Germany. We brought that to you right here on CNN. He thanked the 1st Armored Division for its 15 months of service in Iraq. Earlier today, Mr. Bush met with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Both leaders pressed Iran to give up its nuclear program.

A welcomed forecast in southern California. Finally, the skies are starting to clear up. This after seven straight days of rain. So much rain, in fact, that Los Angeles now has its third wettest season on record. Residents have been forced out of dozens of homes that are teetering on muddy hillsides.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com