"We're looking at a disaster here;" Land continues to give way underneath Casa Romantica in San Clemente
After weeks of incremental movement, nearly 20 feet's worth of land gave way underneath Casa Romantica in San Clemente, forcing an indefinite closure of rail operations through the area.
Dramatic new video shows a large chunk of land sliding down the bluff sitting above the San Clemente Pier, taking shrubbery along with it as it clatters onto the railroad tracks below.
The slide, which abruptly occurred Thursday, caused a large portion of Casa Romantica's patio to collapse putting an immediate halt to all operations at the popular cultural center.
On top of this, all rail operations heading through the area, which include Amtrak, Metrolink and several shipping lines, have been closed until further notice just days after the route was reopened following a six-month closure caused a different shift in land.
"We're looking at a disaster here," said Congressman Mike Levin, who was joined by other local leaders at the site of the landslide on Saturday. "From an economic standpoint, roughly $1 billion a year in economic impact on our region, so when the rail corridor is shut down — even for a week, a month — we're talking about tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars in regional economic impact."
The most recent slide is just one of many that have happened throughout Orange County in recent years,
"This is the third time in two years that our railroad tracks have been shut down," said Supervisor Katrina Foley, referring to a significant amount of beach erosion that forced a similar closure in 2021.
Just a month ago, four apartment buildings in San Clemente were also evacuated due to a landslide, while miles away several families in Newport Beach suddenly found themselves teetering on the edge of a cliff after a different event.
Both Casa Romantica and the next door condominium complex have been red-tagged, displacing 24 units of people living in the building.
Teams of scientists and geologists have been on hand for weeks as they continue to assess the situation and hopefully mitigate further damage to the iconic Orange County landmark.
"That would be my hope, that we can get the experts in here to make sure we understand what is happening and to prevent anything worse from happening," Levin said.
In the meantime, Orange County is relying on county, state and federal disaster declarations to help clear funding to address the erosion, closed tracks and possibly getting Casa Romantica to be recognized as a federally historic site.
The repeat incidents have caused city leaders to consider moving the tracks altogether.
