Landslide damages homes, displaces homeowners in Mt. Adams
MT. ADAMS, Ohio (WKRC) - The hillside behind several homes on Baum Street slipped overnight and badly damaged a few properties.
A retaining wall behind the homes failed and crashed through the walls of some homes. No one was hurt but the damage is substantial and some homeowners can't return until it's safe.
The Director of Buildings and Inspections, Art Dahlberg, sent out a memo Wednesday saying the retaining wall was built by an engineer hired by Metropolitan Design and Development. The city signed off on permits for the wall. The continuous wall runs behind a row of newly constructed homes.
Some people who live on Oregon Street directly behind Baum Street were told to stay off their porches after the landslide. Ben Roeser has lived on Oregon for about three years. He heard the retaining wall collapse around 3 a.m. but he couldn't see the extent of the damage until it was light. "I was scared because it's half our yard. Our fence is gone. You don't know what's going to happen; we're not allowed to be on our deck anymore, we don't know what's going to happen to our house," says Roeser.
It's not clear yet what the fix will be. "Guys have been coming in looking at the water lines, electric lines, inspectors have been coming in and out. It's been madness. There's been like hundreds of people here today," says Jim Hanauer, Roeser's roommate.
Bruce Rogovin is one of the people who stopped by to take a look at the damage. He almost bought one of the properties that was damaged. "My son is an architect. He just graduated last year and he does not want us to buy a finished piece of property. He wants to design a house for us, otherwise, we probably would have bought that," he says. He missed out on the view, but standing there surveying the damage, he's okay with that. "I'd be very nervous living here," Rogovin says.
The roommates on Oregan say they plan to stay put for as long as they can. "It's kind of nerve-wracking. They keep digging around here and building new houses. I guess eventually it was going to happen," says Roeser.
City View Tavern was closed Wednesday. The city's memo says inspectors are concerned about the deck on the building because it was severely compromised during the landslide.
Local 12 reached out to Metropolitan Design and Development but our phone calls weren't returned.
