JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) — A slow-motion disaster is unfolding in the Wyoming resort town of Jackson as a creeping landslide that split a hillside home in half inches toward more houses and businesses below.
The ground beneath the 100-foot hillside has been giving way an inch at a time since the movement was discovered on April 4.Assistant Town Administrator Roxanne Robinson said by Friday, the rate of movement was doubling every day.Officials say the hillside is unlikely to suddenly collapse like the March 22 landslide in Oso, Wash., that killed 39 people. But the threat is real and authorities are enforcing an evacuation order in hopes of avoiding injuries.
The area has been graded for roads and businesses in recent years, possibly weakening the hillside and setting the stage for the landslide.
The ground beneath the 100-foot hillside has been giving way an inch at a time since the movement was discovered on April 4.Assistant Town Administrator Roxanne Robinson said by Friday, the rate of movement was doubling every day.Officials say the hillside is unlikely to suddenly collapse like the March 22 landslide in Oso, Wash., that killed 39 people. But the threat is real and authorities are enforcing an evacuation order in hopes of avoiding injuries.
The area has been graded for roads and businesses in recent years, possibly weakening the hillside and setting the stage for the landslide.
Looming, creeping landslide splits home in Wyoming