About a dozen residents who were forced from their homes because of a Jan. 9 mudslide near Guerneville have been allowed to return, though concerns remain for their safety amid winter storms bringing more heavy rainfall.
“We are thrilled to be home,” Rick Smith, a 69-year-old retired businessman, said Friday.
Smith and his wife, Christine, were ordered to evacuate their home in the hillside enclave above Highway 116 due to the slide, which came during one of the heaviest bouts of rain last month, the wettest on record for Santa Rosa. The storm sent a flume of water, thick mud and uprooted trees cascading down through the forest along an established culvert between the houses.
No structures were damaged, but Sonoma County officials red-tagged seven homes over concerns the mudslide and more trees at risk of toppling posed threats.
Residents were allowed to return this week after nine trees were felled. County crews also removed the thick layer of mud from Santa Rosa Avenue and Old Monte Rio Road, allowing both to re-open.
Still, safety concerns remain, notably over the “high” likelihood of future landslides and debris flow in that same area, according to a Jan. 25 report by RGH Geotechnical Consultants in Santa Rosa. Since the start of October, more than five feet of rainfall has been recorded at the nearest official station, in Cazadero, less than 10 miles away.
Property owners commissioned the study at the direction of county officials as a condition for the red tags to be lifted.
The report noted evidence of previous landslides along an unimproved portion of Duncan Road above Santa Rosa Avenue, as well as approximately 1,200 cubic yards of saturated debris flow deposits that still exist along the length of the channel, behind impromptu dams formed by fallen trees.
The county closed Duncan Road several years ago to through traffic. The consultant’s report recommended taking measures along the road to “reduce the source of the debris flow.”
Smith and other residents affected by the slide say the county, or other property owners above their homes, bear responsibility for the work.
“If this thing would have been remedied years ago, this wouldn’t have happened,” Smith said.
Two homes, including the Smiths, remain under yellow tag restrictions limiting occupancy.
For the restrictions to be lifted, the Smiths must take steps recommended in the geotechnical engineer’s report, said Tennis Wick, the county’s permit director. The recommendations include measures to protect footing on the couple’s deck from water flow.
More broadly, Wick said county officials consider the area safe for occupancy.
“We think the risk has been mitigated to the extent they (residents) can re-occupy their homes, subject to the recommendations by their geotechnical engineer and [county staff],” Wick said. “We are constantly assessing that determination.”
Linda Payne, whose Old Monte Rio Road home was among those red-tagged, said she’s considering a claim for damage to her walkway she said was caused by tree work done by the county.
Payne, 69, said the damage makes it nearly impossible for her to access her home.
“If I’ve got on my knee-high rubber boots and two free hands, I can climb up through it,” she said.
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