A hillside crumbled onto a popular street in Rancho Penasquitos Thursday morning. What is best described as a small mudslide came from underneath a home above Black Mountain Road.
The homeowner, David Farren, told NBC 7 he and his wife woke up to see a chunk of his backyard missing.
“We took a look over the edge and found half of our backyard out on Black Mountain Road."
DAVID FARREN - HOMEOWNER
If it wasn’t for the current Stay-at-Home Order, Black Mountain Road would normally be crowded with drivers on their morning commute.
“If it would’ve been a normal, rush hour, workday it probably would’ve been a much bigger issue,” said Farren. Thankfully, no one was hurt when the hillside came crashing down a little before 8:00 a.m.
Farren said crews worked for several hours to clear debris from the roadway. His big concern now is the structural integrity of his home.
“I was concerned about what might happen in terms of additional damage. We’ve got a set of stairs there, we’ve got a deck. I was worried about the structural integrity of those as well,” said Farren.
He said crews who were cleaning up debris told him pressure from heavy rain may have snapped an irrigation pipe and caused the mudslide, but he’s waiting for insurance and engineers to access the damage. He’s also hoping more rain in the forecast doesn’t cause more problems.
Local
“We’ve got people who are going to throw a tarp over it. We want to make sure the additional rain doesn’t cause additional damage. There’s an awful lot of properties that look an awful lot like ours, so hopefully this isn’t the first of more to come,” said Farren.
NBC 7 reached out to the city of San Diego to find out what caused the mudslide. A representative said they would find out more information and share it as soon as possible.
