As Mud Begins to Slide, Hilltop Residents Keep Watch

ANAHEIM — Several hilltop residents were wishing for dry weather Thursday after relentless rains washed out at least one backyard and Caltrans crews prepared to work overtime to stabilize a slipping hillside.

Maple Street residents said they were not planning to evacuate their homes but joined Caltrans and others keeping a watch on the steep slope abutting their backyards. Police and fire crews remained on alert, and utilities officials were poised to cut gas and water lines at a moment’s notice.

Forecasters said there is an increasing chance of rain tonight and early Saturday and a continued chance of showers on Sunday. Orange County already has seen more than twice the normal rainfall this season.

“It just seems to be one storm after another,” said meteorologist Jon Erdman of WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasting for The Times. “It’s been a pretty relentless pattern.”

Anna MacNew, who bought her home about a year ago, said the situation was frightening but that she is confident the problem will be handled. On Thursday, she pointed out decorative brick wall that has crumbled and a crack that has appeared between her drained pool and a walkway.

“My dream house has turned into a nightmare house,” said MacNew, looking out over the backyard that affords her a spectacular view--and also puts her property at risk during the rainy season.

Caltrans officials recently closed the street to traffic as the agency prepared to stabilize the hillside sloping down behind the MacNews’ home to Santa Ana Canyon Road.

Work has been hastened since it became clear the continuous rains and slippage were causing an immediate problem, officials said.

While work crews are trying to level out the slope, Caltrans officials went door to door in the affluent area prone to mudslides to assure residents that “there is no imminent danger to them or their properties,” Caltrans spokeswoman Pam Gorniak said.

Authorities said construction workers are putting in overtime through the weekend to control the slope movements, which are caused by “too much water,” Gorniak said.

“The backs of the three houses are sliding,” said Anaheim Councilman Lou Lopez. “The rain has just saturated that dirt.”

Also contributing to this report was Times staff writer Rene Lynch.