California’s Rancho Palos Verdes thrown into chaos by landslides

Not everyone can afford to invest in moving off-grid – the sewer system is now being run by generators paid for by locals – or they worry that the city will shut the roads and they will be forced to leave anyway.

Mayor John Cruikshank, a civil engineer, said he thinks neighborhoods like Portuguese Bend will need to stay off-grid to survive. He’s speaking to private companies about possibly installing power walls, which store energy for later use.

He’s also trying to convince the state to extend the emergency declaration to get funding to help individual homeowners.

“The forces of nature sometimes are much more than we know how to control or have the ability to control,” he said. “We’re still searching for engineering solutions.”

While the land has always been shifting under their feet, residents of Rancho Palos Verdes understand that climate change is exacerbating their problems.

“The two years of rain didn’t help,” said Jay Golison, Jackie’s husband.

“A drought, as bad as it sounds, sounds pretty good to us right now.”

Outdoor trails, which used to be popular with locals and visitors alike, are now closed because of fissures and air pockets that trip up horses, hikers and mountain bikers.

“I couldn’t see the bottom in one of them,” Ms Golison said of fissures that caused her to fall off her bike.

She often goes to bed at night crying, worried what they will do if they have to leave and where they can afford to go with three horses, three dogs and all their investments in a potentially sinking home.

The home the couple have lived in for just two years has only a few minor cracks.

“We are still living in it. We just built it and put every dime we have into it,” she said.

Not everyone is sympathetic to the plight of homeowners in the wealthy neighbourhood. Social media is filled with comments about how residents should have known there was an issue, given a landslide first destroyed homes there in the 1950s.

But locals adapted. They raised homes off foundations onto adjustable beams so the buildings would move with the land – a solution that worked for decades. Houses there were also cheaper than most coastal property in California, so for many it was worth the risk for a slice of paradise.

The Trump National Golf Club is a mile away from Portuguese Bend. The former president bought it in 2002 after it went bankrupt because the 18th hole fell into the ocean in a landslide. It’s still open for business.

Those who are struggling to afford the necessary renovations and costs to stay, including elderly residents on fixed incomes, feel they’ve been failed.