Residents in a South Laguna neighborhood awoke on Tuesday, Feb. 6, to find mud flowing from a break in a rain-soaked road adjacent to a similar sinkhole that in March swallowed a Range Rover and closed the street for at least seven months for repair.
The break under a retaining wall along Sunset Avenue occurred during the early morning hours, leading a resident on Virginia Way about 100 yards below to call the city at 3 a.m.
“I started seeing mud in my backyard and got up and started checking all the drains to make sure nothing was clogged,” said Marie Clark.
The scenario was a frightening reminder of a similar problem in March when her backyard was filled with mud, rocks and debris when a sinkhole broke loose, tossing a Range Rover into a 10-foot hole.
Crews were able to pull the car out, but neighbors below the location had significant damage and dealt with ongoing repairs done for months by the South Coast Water District. The sinkhole was finally repaired late in 2023.
Clark and neighbor Caroline Hamner walked to the location on Sunset and saw the “undermined street” right next to the original sinkhole.
“Our eyes popped out of our head when we saw it,” Clark said, adding that residents now worry about what impact the weight of mud could have on water and gas lines beneath the ground there.
“Part of the hillside had washed down,” Hamner said. “A lot of foilage has helped the slope, but we worry what happens if it gets worse.”
City and water district crews are on site. Sandbags have also been placed near the start and end of the debris field and water has been shut off to some of the homes.
Brendan Manning, the city’s emergency operations coordinator, said the road has been closed due to stability concerns.
Mike Tompkins, a general contractor who spent months watching the sinkhole in front of his house being repaired, worries that the problem is related to the 100-year-old roadway.
He described last year’s incident as a “hydro blast blowing the hillside away.”
This time, the impacted area happened in a location with “a chronic drainage issue” where water has consistently pooled and the street appears to have failed under a nearby block wall, he said.
“Because it’s a puddle, it takes drainage from all the homes above, and suddenly the street has a new drain,” he said of the weakened area. “This should be an indication that the street has been a problem all along. It’s a 100-year-old street that was never constructed by today’s standards and is failing.”
Sunset is closed between 10th Avenue and Virginia Way.
Meanwhile, most other areas of the city have not had many issues, Manning said. There have been a few incidents of rocks and mud on the roads with an “occasional, short-term closure.”
“We have also had some temporary beach closures due to sand shifts at the bottom of the access stairs,” he said. “Marine Safety is continuing to monitor those areas of concern.”
The temporarily closed beaches include Victoria Beach off Drummond Street, Thousands Steps Beach and Bluebird Beach near the ramp access.
Marine Safety Capt. Kai Bond said he’s unsure of when the closures will reopen and it will depend on the sand conditions.
“It depends on what Mother Nature does,” he said. “The sand has been redistributing plenty of times.”
King tides – which can bring unusually high water levels – are forecast for Feb. 9, but Bond said a lot can happen between then and now. If the sand doesn’t naturally move back to help with access points, Bond said, the city’s Public Works crew will lend some help.
