Carson Street Hillside Continues to Shift, City Tags Four More Homes

The City of Hercules could declare a state of emergency due to an increasingly on Carson Street, which forced residents out of their homes Monday night.

Four houses were long since evacuated when four more were yellow-tagged by the city Monday afternoon, indicating that it is unsafe for residents to stay overnight at the homes.

"At this point, (the hillside) is just being monitored," and the yellow-tags are precautionary measures, City Spokewoman Michelle Harrington said. Although the city does not own the hillside, it has the authority to call a state of emergency, making the city eligable for federal relief funds.

“I’m feeling sick over this,” said Billy Vogele, a 17-year Carson Street resident, who owns one of the homes that was tagged Monday. Vogele said he and his family will stay with relatives Monday. He said he has not been told when he will be able to safely stay in the house overnight again.

Vogele said he contacted the city council and city staff Sunday evening when he noticed a significant shift in the hillside—which butts up against his property—and asked them to help find a way to stop the incremental landslide.

After hearing about nearby city San Pablo issuing an emergency declaration Sunday, after six homes were affected by a landslide, Vogele said he hoped Hercules would make a similar decision. "I'm hoping our city council can take some leadership here and get some badly needed help," he said.

Vogele said he fears having to abandon his home the way his next-door neighbors did roughly two months ago.

"To see families forced to vacate these homes is emotionally (exausting)," said Joseph Loo, a Carson Street resident since 1989. "These families have suffered. (Their homes) are their biggest investment," said Loo, who lives directly accross the street from the homes threatened by the slide.

The City Council will consider calling a state of emergency at Tuesday's meeting. Loo said a group of Carson Street landowners will talk about the landslide issue during the meeting's public comment period.

The city is working on its own response to the slide has plans to put K-Rails infront of the homes that might be pushed forward into the street due to the slide.