Majestic Hills residents in hotels after landslide damages homes
Observer-Reporter
Workers are shown in late June 2018 at the site of the Majestic Hills landslide on Forest Lane Drive in North Strabane Township.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Workers are shown in June at the site of the Majestic Hills landslide on Forest Lane Drive in North Strabane Township.
Several Majestic Hills residents in North Strabane Township are living out of hotel rooms after a landslide last week left one home damaged and two others in potential danger, should the land continue to slide.
The land behind four homes slid about 30 feet onto Forest Lane Drive last week, following extensive rain. The township closed the road, which was impassable due to trees and dirt from the slide.
Three of the homes needed to be evacuated, and the residents are staying in hotel rooms provided by the developer, Ryan Homes, according to the township’s engineer, Joseph Sites of Gateway Engineers. Sites said he’s not sure how long the residents will be in hotels. He said it could be weeks or months until the landslide is fixed.
One of the three evacuated homes was damaged by the slide, and owners of the other homes are worried the hillside will continue to collapse, damaging their homes.
Sites said the township is working with the developer on a remediation plan. As of now, they are investigating the land to find “competent soil in that slope.”
Sites said while the cause of the slide is still unknown, it most likely was influenced by the large amount of rain the area has seen since February. He said water possibly got between the natural land and the fill that was used on that hillside. He also said the unusual freeze and thaw patterns over the winter didn’t allow water to drain properly.
“We didn’t have a normal winter,” Sites said Tuesday. “We had a wet winter with snow and rain.”