Rain washes away hillside under home

BRINNON, Wash. — A home in Brinnon hangs in the balance after heavy rains pulled the backyard into the river below. The home quickly turned into a cliffside property.

The homeowner, Chuck, is hopeful that his property can be saved, despite more rain on the way. Chuck says his family has lived in the home for nearly 30 years. But on Wednesday, county fire officials deemed his home uninhabitable until further inspections take place.

“It’s my little slice of heaven,” says Chuck. A slice that is now uninhabitable until county inspectors give him the all-clear.

Chuck got the call on Wednesday of a landslide sweeping his livelihood into the Duckabush River. He was out of town at the time.

“I was in total shock,” says Chuck.

He says he routinely works to reinforce his property. This summer was no exception.

“All summer,” Chuck says of the work he put in. “And it’s all gone. $8,000 worth of gravel and it’s gone.”

His reinforcement work was no match for the rain-saturated land around it. The National Weather Service reported four inches of rain in less than 24 hours at the time his foundation slid.

Kate Mickelson is a landslide expert with the Department of Natural Resources. She tells KIRO 7 that this is just the beginning of our state’s ‘landslide season’, with November being Washington’s rainiest month.

“That combination of too much water, too fast, the steep slopes, and the weak geology we have in Washington all contribute to the potential for landslides,” says Mickelson.

In Brinnon, Chuck remains optimistic that his home will hold stable, and that he’ll be able to rebuild in the months ahead.

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