OREGON CITY, Ore. -- Crews in Oregon City are keeping a close eye on several landslides, one of which has damaged a home and forced its residents to evacuate.
Someone reported a water main break Feb. 16 on Trillium Park Drive, and arriving crews discovered it was caused by a landslide.
As of Friday morning, Trillium Park Drive was closed from Swordfern Court to Canyon Court and the water main break was isolated.
But the damage is already done at the nearby home. The foundation has cracked and the home has been identified as a dangerous building. The women inside were told they have to leave by 5 p.m. Friday because home is unsafe.
Michelle Buche has rented the home for 14 years. Buche and her two roommates will stay at a hotel for a couple nights, thanks to their landlord. But Buche said Friday she doesn't know what will happen next. Her daughter started a Gofundme page to raise money for Michelle to relocate.
“Its just been one thing after another," she said.
During the rain last week, the ground around her home began to move for the first time in the 14 years she’s been here. She noticed it inside almost immediately.
“You know a few days ago we had the cracks and it was fine and we thought we were going to be able to stay in here and now it’s just getting worse and worse,” Buche said.
The house is below one hill and on the edge of a gully. The slide is slowly but surely destroying it.
Just up the street the road is blocked off--painted to show where utility lines run and to document the spreading cracks.
The slide also threatens the Berry Hill complex. An extensive job is underway to shore up the hillside there--but there is plenty of earth that's moved.
A second active landslide was reported on private property north of Barclay Hills Park, between Alden Street and Peter Skene Way.
An 8-inch sewer line was impacted by the slide. The sewer leak has since been stopped, and the city is asking people to avoid contact with water associated with the Newell Creek Canyon,
Three other known slides involving private property damage within the Oregon City continue to deteriorate under current winter weather conditions.
Public Works Director John Lewis says, it’s because of all the rain.
“It’s just moisture in clay soils. It gets saturated and the minute they get saturated they get heavy. And if they're on a steep slope they move," he said.
It’s a reasonable explanation. But there’s nothing that feels reasonable to Buche, who had to walk out of a house that holds so many memories.
“I raised my daughter in here, since she went to high school, the first day of high school, I mean we found this place and it was perfect. So, yeah,” she said biting her lip and shaking her head.