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I agree with Ruff! He has been warning us for years about the damage man is doing to the earth and you all had the nerve to laugh at him?
I hope now you take Ruff serious next time.
I agree with Ruff! He has been warning us for years about the damage man is doing to the earth and you all had the nerve to laugh at him?
I hope now you take Ruff serious next time.
I just heard about this today. My sister actually does PR for Pulte and just went to San Antonio today for PR damage control. My niece said she was on TV. Lol if you see a Pulte rep on the news named Valerie, that's my sister. Don't be mad at her... she's just the messenger lol.
damn got ed up over there
Links people!
Here's today's Yahoo! News report on it.
LINK: Homes evacuated in San Antonio as hill crumbles
That's my sister I bolded and colored red in the fourth paragraph.
SAN ANTONIO – Construction crews moved dirt to shore up a group of houses precariously perched on a crumbling hill in San Antonio on Monday as engineers tried to determine why the land below was shifting, causing dozens of homes to evacuate.
Gaping crevices, some 15 feet deep, cut across several yards as dirt cascaded into a towering stone retaining wall that nearly split in half. Fences crumpled like accordions as crews packed dirt under one home and around its exterior after part of its foundation was exposed.
One soil expert said the cause of the landslide appeared to be the result of poor retaining wall design, and a city official said the nearly 1,000-foot-long wall in the upper-middle class neighborhood of sprawling two-story homes was built without a permit.
No one has been injured, but about 80 homes were evacuated on Sunday after a resident in the northwest side subdivision reported that his backyard was sliding down hill. By Monday afternoon, residents in about 55 of those homes were allowed to return after inspections and soil monitoring found them to be safe, said Valerie Dolenga, a spokeswoman for Pulte Homes Inc., the parent company of the neighborhood's builder, Centex Homes.
One neighbor who was among the first homebuyers in the subdivision set among rolling hills on the outskirts of San Antonio said he was initially told no homes would be built on the crumbling ridge because it was too steep.
Romeo Peart, 32, said one retaining wall failed several years ago before the current one was built and homes were constructed above it.
"They can keep the view now," Peart said, shaking his head as heavy equipment stuffed dirt beneath an exposed foundation. "And they paid an extra $10,000 for those lots."
The development, which was started in 2004, has nearly 750 homes with others under construction. The neighborhood, with houses selling for $250,000, is one dozens that have sprung up on hilly former ranch land as San Antonio grew to be the nation's seventh largest city.
The near-vertical retaining wall likely failed under the weight of the area's clay soil that readily expands when drenched with heavy precipitation as it was last week, said Sazzad Bin-Shafique, an assistant engineering professor and soil expert at the University of Texas-San Antonio who went out to the site on Monday. Steep, tall retaining walls can hold up if built correctly, he said.
"It's safe, honestly. We have engineering solutions, but sometimes we do something because we want to reduce costs," Bin-Shafique said. "Many times, it will be OK, but sometimes, it will not."
Roderick Sanchez, the city's planning and development director, said the builder built the retaining wall without a permit. The city was still waiting for verification that the wall was designed by a certified engineer and built to specifications, Sanchez said.
Dolenga said the city approved construction plans for the subdivision including the retaining wall, though she said the company was investigating the permit allegation. She said she didn't know if the street with the now-jeopardized homes was added later to the subdivision's plans, though developments are usually built in phases.
"We've been building out there a long time. This is an unusual cir stance," she said.
Engineers spent Monday assessing each of the structures in the evacuated area, while fire officials escorted some families to retrieve belongings from the neighborhood. At least seven homes would likely remain vacant for an extended period, said Fire District Chief Nim Kidd, who is also the head of the city's emergency management office.
Kenny Crawford, 32, asked fire officials to be allowed to retrieve his car and some belongings on Monday, but because his home is directly below the disintegrating wall, he and his girlfriend were told it was too dangerous.
"They really haven't given us any info," Crawford said. "We don't know what's going to happen. Of course, property values are going to fall."
Dolenga said geologists and engineers were looking for a cause of the slide and monitoring for any additional movement of the dirt that was sliding at a rate of 4-inches-an-hour on Sunday. She did not know if there was additional movement on Monday.
Utilities were cut off in the area, and construction crews were moving dirt to shore up the homes on the hill and to protect those below the retaining wall.
Resident Lakeika James, 41, said she had noticed odd noises over the three years she has lived in her house.
"I would hear, laying in my bed at night, grumbling and vibrations. A few nails popped out lately," she said.
She said she hadn't planned on staying in the house long-term, and now after the landslide, the mother of a 5-year-old girl wants out.
"I'm just going to be uncomfortable and worried for my family," she said.
Thanks I'm stuck at work here at R.A.F.B. with a blackberry and a thermos full of warm coffee.
Whoever gave the go-ahead for that retaining wall is screwed. There's a lot of homes in SA built on slopes, dunno if I'd ever live in one. Never know who screwed up what when 20 years later your house collapses.
Luckily for the city, they never acquired the permit for the wall.
They can now wipe their hands free of any law suits.
Wouldn't be so sure, they did permit the subdivision after all. But, I'd bet within the homeowner's paperwork with Pulte there's a provision that all matters between the homeowner's and Pulte have to be settled through arbitration.Luckily for the city, they never acquired the permit for the wall.
They can now wipe their hands free of any law suits.
From the pics I saw, that wasn't a retaining wall. It was merely a speed bump.
And I can guarantee you that the wall was part of the initial plans submitted to the city for approval.
that was built when it was centex, so most likely that person's gone anyway
My understanding was that development on that site wasn't part of the original sub division plans.
And if I remember correctly, Centex is/was cheap and shady as .
it's gonna be a mess b/c nobody (the city, the insurers, the builders) is gonna step up to the plate and get these people new homes. It's gonna take a long, drawn-out lawsuit before some en y or business is ordered to do what's right by the homeowners. Meanwhile, these people are gonna be paying the note on a worthless house as well as figuring out where to call home.
People who's houses were built on the contaminated land by Kelly AFB are still waiting to hear from the courts to see who is going to pay for all the Cancer and down syndrome damage and it's been over 30 years.
I'm pretty sure Pulte and/or their insurance carrier is gonna be writing some big checks.
Yeah, this sucks. I work with one of the homeowners there. She used to be my boss before I switched departments. They weren't allowed to pack anything at all. She just had to buy a bunch of clothes for their kids, and themselves because they can't go get anything. Sucky situation.
It's a STUPID situation. They need to get those peoples out of the houses. It's not that dangerous.
The aquifer people who were against the building in that area from the start on purpose shut down the water flow to that part of the city to cause the cave ins.
the city building officials are sure trying say they didn't approve the wall, but come to look at the situation again, I would think you are right.
Something somewhere was approved by the city during the building phase. If there was never any approval, then the city should have brought suit against the builders for failing to get it certified at whatever point they finished building in the area.
It'll definitely be interesting to see who, if anyone, gets the ultimately blame for this.
Pulte will settle out of court.
As for the "permit" bull , that's just those pricks at building and zoning trying to cover their ass.
They work for building/zoning because they are too ing lazy/stupid to build.
This sinkhole sure is an attention .
Sure. For business sake, I would think they would want to take care of these homeowners as quickly as possible.
absolutelyAs for the "permit" bull , that's just those pricks at building and zoning trying to cover their ass.
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