Rancho Palos Verdes seeks emergency declaration as ground erodes

Local leaders are calling on California Governor Gavin Newsom to declare a statewide emergency as the land continues to shift throughout the seaside community of Rancho Palos Verdes.

The city has already declared a local emergency due to an ongoing constant landslide that has destroyed homes, warped roadways and threatened to uproot life for many homeowners.

But the situation in Rancho Palos Verdes is now more dire than ever following another round of torrential rainfall last month, followed by another round of heavy rain this week.

The historic Wayfarers Chapel, also known as “The Glass Church,” was closed indefinitely last week after the ground near the property continued to shift. Aerial footage from nearby the church showed a large bulge on Rancho Palos Verdes Drive South, the adjacent coastal roadway that operates as a critical artery and emergency route for the city’s residents.

City officials say the land is sliding at an accelerated rate, with some estimates of as much as 10 feet per year.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency previously authorized millions to remediate the ongoing slides by using underground wells that will divert water from the ground to the ocean. But that project isn’t supposed to begin until next year.

Now the city council wants to expedite that timeline.

Effort underway to save famed Southern California glass chapel

The City Council plans to formally request Newsom declare a state of emergency on Tuesday during its regularly scheduled meeting in hopes that he will help clear the way for immediate work to be done to stabilize the slumping earth.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, whose district includes Rancho Palos Verdes, is calling for Newsom to visit the area and see the destruction up close.

“I think if the Governor came here and saw the buckling streets, the homes sinking and cracking apart, and the historic Wayfarers Chapel on the verge of collapsing, he would understand the urgency of this request,” Hahn said in a news release issued Monday afternoon. “This is a crisis that is getting worse by the day, and I urge Governor Newsom to visit us and see it with his own eyes.”

Local leaders also plan to urge the governor to write to President Joe Biden and ask him to consider declaring a federal emergency, which would provide even more resources to address the ongoing coast slides.

On Monday, The Federal Government issued a major emergency declaration for the San Diego area, which was drenched by last month’s storms and battered by major floods.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.