A one mile stretch of Beach Drive has been closed due to a landslide. Much of the debris has been cleared but there's no information yet on the potential of further slides or when the road might reopen to through traffic.
A landslide along the 6000 block of Beach Drive has closed the road for approximately 1 mile from the junction of 48th S.W. and Beach Drive.
January 13th 5 PM Update:
Beach Drive has been reopened.
The original story follows:
According to neighbors south of the area a partial slide has also occurred along the north trail inside Lincoln Park.
City work crews are trying to prevent the slide from moving any further onto the road and toward several homes in the area.
Neighbors are watching as inspectors figure out how to stabilize an embankment that started to slowly come down late yesterday afternoon, pushing several large trees onto Beach Drive near the intersection with Atlas Place.
Nobody was injured and no homes were damaged.
Mike Winter lives in a house across the street from the slide and potentially in its path if it were to continue down the hill.
He said another landslide came down a couple years ago, and he and his wife are wondering if they're safe.
"When we get the rain this time of year and the ground gets saturated, we get nervous," Winter said. "It's real disconcerting."
Another homeowner who lives above the slide showed us how the ground behind his property sank at least five feet over the past 24 hours. He says the foundation and walls of his place are reinforced and should be stable, but what's happening today worries him as well.
The city will continue cleaning up the branches, wood and soil that came down. Inspectors are discussing ways they might be able to stabilize the embankment to prevent and damage to homes, the road and power lines.
January 13th 5 PM Update:
Beach Drive has been reopened.
