An Oregon hillside home is teetering on the brink of collapse after torrential rain and fierce winds caused a landslide on the house’s driveway.
The landslide occurred on Northeast Cadet Avenue in Portland, coinciding with widespread power outages across the region.
‘It’s coming down towards my house,’ Groschong Erickson, who lives below the landslide, told local CBS affiliate KOIN of the destruction’s spread.
Erickson recounted waking up on Thursday to discover that his neighbor’s driveway had crumbled overnight. The landslide left a trail of debris, stopping just short of his backyard.
‘I saw some caution tape and some trees had moved but I didn’t know there was a landslide,’ Erickson said. ‘It’s not a surprise, that driveway has been teetering for a while and a lot of water was coming down.’
While the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) sent engineers to assess the situation, they noted that the landslide occurred on private property.
This may mean the homeowner is ultimately responsible for the repairs and any necessary stabilization.
‘I’m concerned about these trees coming into my yard. Hopefully they have a good insurance policy,’ Erickson said.
An Oregon hillside home teetered on the brink of collapse as torrential rain and fierce winds caused a landslide on its driveway
The landslide occurred on Northeast Cadet Avenue in Portland, coinciding with widespread power outages across the region
High winds, gusting up to 63 mph along the coast and 48 mph in the metro area since midnight, toppled trees onto power lines, blocking roads, and damaging property.
Thousands of Oregonians remain without electricity as crews work to restore service.
John Farmer, a PGE spokesperson, reminded residents to stay prepared for severe weather and exercise caution, especially around downed power lines
‘It doesn’t have to spark, doesn’t have to sizzle or move around to be live. It can just be there. So number one: treat it as if it’s live. Number two: stay away. We recommend the length of a city bus, 40-50 feet away. And number three: give PGE a call,’ Farmer told KOIN.
PGE also recommends having an outage kit ready for emergencies, including essential items like food, medicine, flashlights and batteries.
The threat of coastal erosion is escalating, as seen by destruction caused across the United States.
In Newport Beach, California, a landslide imperiled several homes in April, forcing officials to yellow-tag them as unsafe.
Drone footage captured the terrifying sight of these homes teetering on the edge of a destabilized cliff.
Several homes in California’s Newport Beach were yellow-tagged by officials after a landslide hit the cliff behind the properties
Extreme storms this winter have decimated the cliffs many coastal homes sit on- meaning they are at risk of crumbling into the ocean in just a matter of years. Pictured: Pacifica, California, in January 2024
Meanwhile, in Pacifica, California, the dream of oceanfront living has become a nightmare for many residents.
Extreme storms have been relentlessly eroding the cliffs over this past year, threatening to topple their million-dollar homes into the sea.
A report published last year by the National Ocean Service predicts that sea levels across the United States will rise by an average of 10 to 12 inches by 2050, primarily driven by climate change.
While these numbers might seem modest, even a small increase significantly heightens the risk of catastrophic flooding in coastal areas and accelerates erosion.
Adding to the challenge, many insurance policies exclude coverage for damage caused by erosion.
Extreme weather events caused an estimated $92.9 billion in damages in 2023, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information.
Yet, standard insurance policies often include ‘named exclusions,’ such as floods, earthquakes, landslides, sinkholes, and earth movement—a category that includes erosion.
To cover flood damage, homeowners must purchase separate flood insurance, which does not cover cliff erosion.
For those in high-risk areas, the average annual cost of flood insurance is $1,607, according to PolicyGenius.
Homes in Narragansett, Rhode Island, pictured, were hit by two back-to-back storms in January
The Federal Emergency Management Agency can pay owners to leave flood prone properties but they only qualify if they fell victim to a presidentially declared disaster operates a similar program which pays owners to leave flood-prone properties
Efforts to address the growing risks have emerged in recent years. In 2021, California officials proposed a plan to buy back vulnerable coastal properties and rent them out until they become unsafe.
Similarly, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) operates a program that compensates residents for leaving flood-prone properties, but eligibility is limited to homes affected by presidentially declared disasters.
Some homeowners have taken matters into their own hands. On Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, a group of wealthy property owners tried to protect their investments by building a 900-foot-long ‘shield’ of plastic fiber tubes filled with sand slurry to defend against encroaching waters.
The privately funded project, which reportedly cost $10 million over a decade, sparked controversy in the community.
Conservationists argued that the barrier interfered with the beach’s natural erosion processes.
This month, following an order from town officials, the group agreed to dismantle the project, marking a contentious end to the effort.
