Residents of a small California retirement town have been left devastated as landslides continue to worsen.
Homeowners in Rancho Palos Verdes, south of Los Angeles — considered the richest retirement town in the United States — have had to deal with one struggle after another as landslides left areas virtually uninhabitable.
Tom Keefer and his wife Cindy have been “struggling” as they’ve had to survive without power for over a month, leaving them with a new challenge: struggling to properly store food and relying on ice and propane from a local gas station to keep going with their lives.
“We’ve been in a bind. It’s not only emotionally stressful, but financially stressful as well,” said Keefer, 67. The Los Angeles Times.
Despite all the hardships brought on by the destructive landslides, Keefer said the city is failing to help the community financially.
Rancho Palos Verdes, south of Los Angeles, has been dubbed America’s richest retirement town, but now residents have had to deal with one struggle after another as landslides continue to take over. (pictured: Damage on Dauntless Dr. in Rancho Palos Verdes)
Tom Keefer (pictured) and his wife Cindy have been “in a bind” because their power has been cut off, forcing them to scramble to find a way to safely store food, among other issues. He also said residents have had to cover the costs of everything.
“The sad thing is that there has been no help, it has been extraordinary. There has been no funding… Only by helping each other are we moving forward,” he told the media.
Keefer and her neighbors have faced endless road closures, damaged homes, power outages and trying to find a way to safely store food.
In addition to having to fend for themselves to stay safe amid an ongoing disaster, residents are also feeling anxious and angry about the lack of help.
In July, residents like Keefer lost access to natural gas, and in early September the city cut off power to homeowners who were warned to evacuate amid the earthmoving.
Concerns about infrastructure failures and potential wildfires have forced utility companies to cut off access as it is not safe to continue supplying electricity and gas in certain areas of the city.
Additionally, residents, including Keefer, lost access to the Internet and landline telephone lines after Cox Communications disconnected service in August.
Sallie Reeves, 81, is also struggling to stay afloat, but hopes this will bring more attention to saving Los Angeles County as it continues to slide into the ocean.
“It’s scary because it’s bigger than anyone could imagine,” Reeves told the LA Times.
Reeves and her husband have been managing their life on their Portuguese Bend property, where they have lived for more than four decades.
Meanwhile, Keefer’s wife, Cindy, 63, is worried about what future weather could do to the already intense situation.
‘Do you know how scared everyone is of the first rain?
“Nothing is being done to prevent a bigger catastrophe… We don’t want compassion, we want work to be done there, now,” he said.
Gas supplies were cut to 135 homes in early August, before electricity and water supplies were cut to homeowners on 1 September.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for Rancho Palos Verdes this month following the outages, but did not address financial relief or the reason behind the severe damage.
Meanwhile, utilities have said more outages could occur soon and have not specified when they will be restored during the “fluid situation,” a Southern California Edison (SoCal Edison) spokesman said.
The coastal community has been plagued by landslides since torrential rains hit the area in spring last year.
The coastal community has been plagued by landslides since torrential rains hit the area in spring last year. (Pictured: Aerial view of damage in Rancho Palos Verdes)
County Supervisor Janice Hahn has demanded intervention from Gov. Gavin Newsom. “This landslide is so massive and so disruptive that one city should not have to bear the burden alone,” she said.
Dozens of homes were destroyed by landslides in July last year and floodwaters swept through the area during storms that hit California in February, causing “significant ground movement” beneath surviving homes.
SoCal Edison made the decision to shut off power after a fire was caused by a downed power line in late August and after 10,000 gallons of sewage spilled from a ruptured tank on Palos Verdes Drive South.
“At this point, the earth movement has created such a dangerous situation that we must make the difficult decision to disconnect power indefinitely,” spokesman David Eisenhauer said earlier.
“We never want to have to cut off the power unless it’s absolutely necessary. In this case, it’s absolutely necessary.
“We have an obligation that is greater than that of providing electric service and that obligation is safety.”
But resident Mike Hong said his neighbors were given just an hour’s notice that their power was being shut off.
“They are giving us even less time than the gas company,” he said. The Los Angeles Times.
“Don’t abandon us. Where is the humanity in this?”
More than a quarter of the city’s residents are over 65 and some have been ordered to start packing.
The city of 42,000 residents has a median income of $166,747 and was ranked the richest retirement city in the country in a recent CNBC survey.
Keefer and her neighbors have faced endless road closures, damaged homes, lack of electricity and the need to find a way to safely store food.
The coastal city of 42,000 people has a median income of $166,747 and was labeled the country’s wealthiest retirement city in a recent CNBC survey.
But residents say its reputation for wealth has led politicians to ignore it and put its vulnerable residents at particular risk.
“Everyone must assume that everyone who lives in Rancho Palos Verdes is infinitely wealthy and that’s not the case, especially for me,” Craig Cadwallader said. CBS News.
“So I literally don’t know where I’m going.”
County Supervisor Janice Hahn said she had committed another $5 million in county funds to disaster relief and repeated her demands for Gov. Newsom to intervene.
“There is no manual for an emergency like this,” he said at a news conference.
‘We’re not cutting corners. This is bigger than Rancho Palos Verdes. This earthworks is so massive and so disruptive that one city shouldn’t have to bear the burden alone.
“You would think if this had been an earthquake, a fire or a flash flood, we would have had a different response,” Halm said.
