Proposed legislation would create state fund to help landslide victims

Several legislators in Western Pennsylvania are pushing a new bill that would create a state insurance fund to help landslide victims.

There have been 77 landslides in Allegheny County in 2018, damaging dozens of homes and costing residents and boroughs millions of dollars.

“It's been seven months of waiting, seven months of trying to figure out how to put my life back together,” said Katie Smith.

Smith was forced out of her Millvale home in February after a landslide in her backyard threatened to destroy it. Since then, she's had to find a new place to live and navigate a difficult process alone.

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“It's something I would not wish on anybody,” she said.

In 2018 alone, there have been 77 landslides in Allegheny County, and state legislatures are trying to find a solution as the problem grows.

"Finally, you get to the point where you have to do something. I think that's where we're at with slides," said State Sen. Randy Vulakovich, R-Shaler.

Vulakovich is pushing a state landslide insurance program that would provide boroughs and landslide victims with a fund to help.

“It is a first step to saying, ‘Hey, we have to look at this a little differently.’ We have to start including this in our budget plans in the future,” he said.

Unfortunately, the program may not be much help for victims who have already lost their homes, like Smith.

She has questions about how it would work, but believes it would be a step in the right direction.

“I think it's great to get some more attention to it,” she said. “I was personally very surprised to hear there wasn't something. As a homeowner, it wasn't just that I wasn't aware of it. There was literally no protection out there.”

There is concern about getting the insurance program funded, since it largely would only impact western Pennsylvania. Legislators tell Channel 11 it likely won't be voted on in Harrisburg until next year.

Cox Media Group