“I don’t know where I’m going to stay tonight,” Rancho Palos Verdes resident Craig Cadwallader said Sunday, Sept. 1, as he grappled with losing power at his home in the Portuguese Bend Community Association. Amid enduring worries about worsening land movement in the area, Southern California Edison cut off power Sunday at noon to 140 homes in the neighborhood.
Despite all the recent headlines about land movement on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, the news was still a stunner, Cadwallader said.
Only after a neighbor showed him a text message on Saturday about an evacuation warning issued by the city in the area, he knew that at noon on Sunday, Sept. 1, his house would have no electricity. It was not enough time to prepare, he said.
“I still haven’t heard from the emergency Southern California Edison notice system,” Cadwallader said, “and I signed up for that in September 2022 and the power is off now, and I got no notice at all.”
Cadwallader has lived at his Rancho Palos Verdes home for four years, but many of his neighbors have been there for decades.
The power shutdown arrived weeks after gas service was cut off in the area amid enduring land movement worries.
The steady, creeping landslide has rattled the area for many months. Just last week, the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council extended a local emergency, spurred by the land movement that increased following the heavy rains that impacted the area starting in the spring of 2023.
The Palos Verdes Peninsula’s largest city first declared a local state of emergency last October because of unprecedented rains that instigated land movement that has since created havoc on roads, homes, hiking trails and a historic structure in the city. That state of emergency, which helps the city seek state and federal funds, was extended to Oct. 5 by the City Council.
City officials issued an evacuation warning Saturday at 3:12 p.m. amid work of the power shutoff. Residents were warned not to use water or plumbing after the electricity was shut off for fear of triggering a sewage spill in the area.
The City and Portuguese Bend Community Association installed generators to keep the sewer system operational. However, Rancho Palos Verdes officials say the evacuation warning will remain in effect in the event of a sewer failure in the interest of public health and safety, according to the city website.
Residents who choose to remain in their homes are advised to limit their use of water and plumbing, especially overnight when generators may be turned off for periods at a time. Ways to limit use include, taking short three-minute showers, avoiding unnecessary flushes, turning off the tap while doing dishes, and running dishwashers and washing machines only with full loads.
The emergency notice posted Saturday by the city warned residents to be ready to evacuate, though no one is being forced to depart yet. “SCE has determined there is a public safety threat. Electricity service will be discontinued in these zones effective Sunday, September 1 at 12 p.m. PST,” Saturday’s city statement said. “DO NOT USE WATER OR PLUMBING AFTER THE POWER IS SHUT OFF — THIS COULD RESULT IN A SEWER SPILL. All persons in these zones should prepare to evacuate and seek alternative housing. Pack important documents, medications, and essential items. Make arrangements for pets and animals.”
The affected areas for the power shutoff can be found at rpvca.gov/1707/Land-Movement-Updates. Officials said residents could also check to see whether they are in the evacuation area at protect.genasys.com/search or on the genasys Protect app.
“I have to underscore how resilient our community is, and the partnership and the collaboration that transpired at the late hour yesterday, we were able, as of this morning, to provide backup generators at three lift stations,” Rancho Palos Verdes City Manager Ara Mihranian said during a press conference on Sunday morning, “which enable the sewer system to continue to operate while the power is being shut off.”
However, the city will be continuing to maintain the evacuation warning, Mihranian added.
Residents impacted by the power shutoff in the Portuguese Bend neighborhood were able to access resources through the city’s Emergency Assistance Center on Sunday at the Ladera Linda Community Center, 32201 Forrestal Drive.
The city and other agencies were available to answer questions about the emergency situation, hotels with discounted rates, pet and animal relocation, mental health support, emergency preparedness and other needs.
Edison also sent a customer care vehicle to the neighborhood area on Sunday, at Narcissa Drive and Fruit Tree Road, where residents could connect to power and perform such tasks as charging cell phones and connecting to other resources. The vehicle will continue providing services through Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Residents can call Edison at 1-800-250-7339 Monday through Friday, 7 a.m.-7 p.m. and Saturdays, 8 a.m.-5 p.m for the most up-to-date information on the situation. Information is also available at https://energized.edison.com/rpv.
City and local officials held a press conference at the emergency assistance center on Sunday to address residents and answer questions. Many residents who attended returned to no power at their homes.
There were also residents from different neighborhoods who were there to learn more and offer help to those experiencing power loss because of the land movement. At this point, officials did not announce that the warning would grow to include other areas.
“We just came down here to see if anybody needed a place to stay, we have two empty bedrooms so we were just going to offer our help if anybody needed it,” said Ruthann Rodich, who has lived in the Ladera Linda neighborhood in Rancho Palos Verdes for 55 years. “I want to be able to support people. It’s devastating for them.”
“I don’t know if something could have been done years ago,” Rodich said, “and waited until it was a complete disaster before they really stepped up to the plate to do something, that I don’t know. It’s sad.”
The city has been dealing with land-movement concerns since it was incorporated in 1973, Mihranian said, and it will continue to monitor the land movement and provide support to residents affected by it.
Los Angeles County has also offered continued support, too, according to county Supervisor Janice Hahn.
“Over the past few weeks, the county has mobilized to do everything in our power to help,” Hahn said. “We’re sparing no expense, because a crisis of this magnitude is not something any city should face on their own. This is bigger than Rancho Palos Verdes, this land movement is so gigantic and so damaging that one city or one homeowner’s organization should not have to bear this burden alone.”
Hahn said that the county will continue to urge Gov. Gavin Newsom to come to the city and see for himself the buckling streets, buildings sinking and cracking apart, and now 140 families that may be forced to leave their homes at a moment’s notice.
“Yes, this landslide has been moving for decades,” Hahn said, “but the acceleration that’s happening currently is beyond what any of us could have foretold, and it demands more response from the state, more response from the federal government.”
Residents got an opportunity to voice their concerns, and said they felt as if they were being “ignored” by state and federal agencies.
“(State and federal) representatives are not present,” resident Nikki Noushkam said. “The only representative that we have present is Hahn and nobody else shows up.”
Noushkam has lived in her home on the outskirts of the Portuguese Bend Community Association neighborhood for 20 years. Her house has endured foundation damage, roof damage and more, she said.
“I need to address this for people, we are not rich people, we’re working professionals,” Noushkam said. “I cannot afford to go and get another house, I still need to pay this mortgage and taxes on my house, and it’s already hard enough here in Southern California.”
L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna and Fire Chief Anthony Marrone both addressed residents and assured their respective agencies would continue to provide public services to residents amid the evacuation warning and any other emergencies. They also reminded residents to be prepared for a potential evacuation order if necessary.
Luna said he authorized the use of drones to help guard against possible criminal activity targeting the homes of residents who might leave the area.
On Aug. 28, officials said that land movement the pervious weekend caused an approximately 10,000-gallon sewer spill on private property along Palos Verdes Drive South near Narcissa Drive. The Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts, the agency that operates the main trunk sewers that transport wastewater out of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, responded to stop the spill and make an emergency repair.
“It is the city’s understanding that this incident was the first significant break in LACSD’s infrastructure due to ongoing land movement,” according to a city statement. “We continue to work closely with LACSD to expedite permitting for repair work, as needed, as well as efforts to install an above-ground by-pass sewer pipe along Palos Verdes Drive South.”
A fire on Thursday, near Narcissa Drive in the Portuguese Bend area, helped accelerate Edison’s decision, said Larry Chung, Southern California Edison Vice President of Customer Engagement Division. The small blaze was ignited after a power line fell, setting shrubs afire nearby. The fire was put out promptly, but concern endured among Edison’s decision makers.
“Southern California Edison recognizes just how devastating it’s been for many of the city’s community members as the land moves at this unprecedented pace,” Chung said.
“I want to reiterate again our commitment to safety, our commitment to the community, and that this decision was not taken lightly,” Chung added. “It’s something that we’ve considered greatly in partnership with a lot of the public service agencies and entities, including the city.”
During the press conference, Cal Water District confirmed that they will continue water service to the community for both residents in their homes and for fire protection, said Rancho Dominguez District Manager Ralph Felix.
While the sewer system remains in operation, said a representative from the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts, if there is an emergency there will be immediate shutoffs and an activation of an emergency response plan.
Councilmembers David Bradley and Barbara Ferraro also spoke at the press conference.
“This is, and continues to be an existential crisis for the city of Rancho Palos Verdes,” Bradley said. “We have the most active landslide in North America, and we need to come up with real solutions to help both our current residents and also retard the landslide as much as possible. I mean, our hearts go out to our neighbors, our friends and our residents here within the city that have been directly affected.”
Recently, the community learned that the land movement actually has its source much deeper into the Earth than experts previously thought.
After drilling past a 165-foot slip plane of the slide to relieve pressure from emergency hydraugers pumping out ground water to stabilize the land, the city’s geology team found another slip plane — this one at twice the depth.
This new, deeper slip plane is at about 330 feet below the surface, Public Works Director Ramzi Awwad said during last week’s RPV City Council meeting. The revelation is yet another complication the city must deal with as it tries to control the land movement that has upended much of RPV’s normal way of life.
Now with no power or gas, Cadwallader said that he is still willing to put up with other challenges to stay in his home a little longer.
Other neighbors said they were already having problems with sewage and not being able to afford the hotel options being offered.
“I really didn’t learn anything new today that I didn’t know,” Cadwallader said, “other than that frustration of lack of response.”
City News Service contributed to this report
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