Millionaires' row goes to ground with shifting sand

[emad]

June 03, 2005


From James Bone in New York

THE California dream came to a sudden end for families in Laguna Beach when a landslide destroyed their homes overlooking the Pacific.
Residents of the Bluebird Canyon area had to scramble for safety when the earth began to move at around 7am on Wednesday.

Jill Lockhart, who awoke to the noise of shattering glass and walls, said: “You could hear the homes breaking. You could hear the cracking wood.”

Ms Lockhart, 35, threw her two-year-old son over her shoulder and dragged his four-year-old brother, Trey, along as she fled from their home. “It was like a nightmare,” she said. “We had to run for our lives.”

The 30-acre section of hillside broke free and swamped the homes, sending them crashing down the canyon. One expert estimated that the hill had fallen 50ft and moved 100ft to one side.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,174-1638845,00.html