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Oakland Hills Landslide: 5 Homes Red Tagged
The mud reached up to four to five feet against the back walls of two of the homes and to the roof eave of one.
OAKLAND, CA — Two landslides in the Oakland hills on Thursday evening forced residents from five homes to be evacuated, Oakland Public Works officials said today.
One of the landslides occurred in the 6500 block of Aitken Drive and the other was in the nearby 6600 block of Aitken Drive, according to Public Works officials.
The Oakland Fire Department, the Oakland Public Works Department, the East Bay Municipal Utility District and PG&E all responded.
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The two affected blocks of Aitken Drive were closed to traffic in both directions and will remain closed until further notice, city officials said.
However, no driveway access to any home on Aitken Drive has been affected. One of the slides continued downhill, into the backyards of four homes in the 6600 and 6700 blocks of Banning Drive, according to Public Works officials.
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The mud reached up to four to five feet against the back walls of two of the homes and to the roof eave of one of those, city officials said.
Mud also infiltrated into the homes via doors and windows.The Oakland Fire Department evacuated all four of the affected homes on Banning Drive and one home on Aitken Drive.
Two residents were given housing assistance by the Red Cross but no injuries were reported, according to Public Works officials.
City of Oakland investigators checked adjacent properties to see if any additional homes were at risk but at this time no other homes are believed to have been affected, Public Works officials said.
City engineers will continue assessing the mudslide sites today to determine next steps and the stability of the affected homes on Banning Drive.
For safety reasons, EBMUD and PG&E temporarily cut water and power service to some nearby lines.
EBMUD spokeswoman Nelsy Rodriguez said there are 23 homes in the area without water service.
She said most of the 23 homes without water service are on Aitken Drive but several of them are on nearby Exeter Drive.
Rodriguez said the water agency hopes that most of the 23 homes that currently don't have water service will have their service restored by this evening.
— Bay City News; Image via Shutterstock