Residents are blaming a mudslide, and other past mudslides, affecting a La Habra neighborhood on a homeless encampment blocking a nearby drainage pipe and pre-existing damage to infrastructure.
Video from Sky5 taken Wednesday morning shows the aftereffects of the mudslide and an encampment littered with debris behind Wilshire Avenue in La Habra, located in a neighborhood near Beach Boulevard and Lambert Road.
More specifically, the encampment is in the drainage area behind homes that border railroad tracks. Across the way is Terraza Park, which has playground equipment for children.
The reoccurring issue has been going on for the last few years and presents itself every time it rains, nearby residents say, as debris from the encampments behind the homes clogs critical drainage routes, causing water and mud to be backed up and overflow into backyards. This week’s storm dropped more than an inch-and-a-half on the La Habra area – and the effects of it are no different than previous precipitation.
One resident who has lived in the neighborhood for 40 years told KTLA Orange County Bureau Chief Chip Yost that she and others have brought the matter to the attention of local government officials. However, Margaret Garcia says that officials pointed her to speak with Union Pacific Railroad – which operates and maintains the railroad tracks – and upon doing so, Union Pacific told her it’s not their problem.
In the meantime though, Garcia is stuck with the bill for cleaning her pool.
“My pool was beautiful, clear, blue…now it’s muddy and black,” Garcia said. “It’s probably got pounds and pounds of mud, and I’m just devastated because this happened two years ago: the same thing with the wall not being fixed.”
“The wall is still broken all these years later, and I just want someone to come fix it so we don’t have this problem again,” she implored. “I can’t keep repairing my pool every time it rains.”
Another neighbor, April Contreras, showed KTLA the damage to her backyard, which doesn’t have a pool but also abuts the railroad tracks. Water came gushing through her home’s back wall, causing significant damage and flooding the backyard – and almost inside her home.
“There was a massive [stream of] water flowing through the entire fence,” Contreras said. “Water was gushing and piled up with mud and landslide [debris] in the grass area going up along the entire home. Water almost went in through the back door.”
Residents also told KTLA that, in addition to the issue of the encampments blocking the drainage access, some of the infrastructure of the drainage system itself is broken, which can – and likely has – made things worse.
KTLA has reached out to the city of La Habra and Union Pacific Railroad for comment on the matter. This story will be updated when a response is received.
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