In San Bernardino mountains, residents hit by devastating mudslide fear more to come
In this Oct. 9, 2017 file photo, a sign is seen on Interstate 15 in San Bernardino, Calif., near San Bernardino National Forest. A fast-moving landslide began Monday, Sept. 11, 2017, and has covered a two-mile stretch of highway and is headed toward the California forest that has taken more than 100 lives in the deadliest U.S. avalanche since the 1989 “Blizzard of ’89” and the 1996 Black Hills landslide. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A fast-moving landslide that began three days ago has covered a two-mile stretch of highway and has the potential to cut off people in the Sierra Nevada foothills from the main road as it continues toward a forest that has taken more than 100 lives since the area was devastated by an avalanche two decades ago and is now threatening an entire town.
The slide in San Bernardino Mountain Community area, including the San Bernardino National Forest, was triggered by a strong earthquake that struck the region Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey said Tuesday.
The area has been closed since the late morning and the road still runs, but the danger continues.
“We feel like there is one more slide in the works,” said Bill Loomis, who has been in charge of the forest since the 1980s. “If it keeps going, we could lose one of our roads.”
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said it is sending a team to investigate in the next few days. Its investigators will look at what factors are at play, whether it was an act of nature or human error, and whether a second slide is possible.
The slide itself occurred in a zone that includes the San Bernardino National Forest. It began Monday and continued through the night, reaching the highway in the evening, Loomis said. The slide also hit a nearby town of Redlands, killing at least a dozen people there.
Loomis said officials had initially thought the slide was caused by natural forces, but an earthquake was quickly ruled out.
The earthquake was
