Homes condemned, evacuated because of landslide

PITTSBURGH — The land is giving way in a Pittsburgh neighborhood and forcing families from their homes.

The weather has caused landslides across the area.

But now homes are being condemned on Goehring Street in Spring Hill.

The affected residents are not entirely sure what caused the hill to slide.

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They said it could be the intense rainfall or possibly a sewer line break.

"Life keeps going on, right? We're gonna get through it," said Randal Miller, who is trying to remain positive, despite looking at what has happened to his Goehring Street home in Pittsburgh's Spring Hill neighborhood.

The back of his house is encased in mud, tree branches, rocks and other debris after the hill behind it slid down this weekend.

He said his Shih Tzu, Sammy, actually started acting strange a few days before the hill came tumbling down.

"We're thinking it's one of those things where the animal can sense this hill's about to fall," Miller said.

The city issued blue condemned notices, warning of imminent danger, to Miller and three of his neighbors along Goehring.

Taking no chances, he packed up his belongings and is now planning on staying with a friend.

"We're hopeful that the worst of it has already happened and that the city is being cautious. But you never know," he said.

"Real nervous," added Helen Jackson. "When he called me and said we're condemned, I said, 'What do you mean our house is condemned? We're not condemned. I'm not going nowhere!'"

The homes of others who live on top of the hill along Kenzig Avenue have also been condemned by the city.

The ground and hill their homes are on is apparently shifting and divots are already visible in their backyards.

Jackson says she and her neighbors are going to stick it out, but she admits this is the worst she's ever seen it, in decades.

Cox Media Group