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Ground Collapse in NW San Antonio Neighborhood

By Beth Janicek

On Sunday 80 homes in the subdivision of The Hills at Rivermist, a Northwest side neighborhood of San Antonio were evacuated after the ground caved in behind several houses, pushing earth down a 30-foot hill into two retaining walls that cracked, threatening the residence below. No one was injured in the 'slope failure,' but some areas had crevices up to 12 to 15 feet deep and 6 to 8 feet wide.

Most residents evacuated were allowed to return home on Monday afternoon, but emergency officials said 25 homes were still considered unsafe for residents to permanently occupy. Of those 25, three were considered unstable and were completely off limits, and up to five could end up with serious damage.

The San Antonio Express News posted an animation of the ground collapse. The animation is an artist re-creation of the collapse at Rivermist.

Centex Homes, the Texas-based developer and builder acquired Pulte Homes last year, said it is investigating the collapse. Vice President for Centex Homes, Laurin Darnell said

the problem seemed to stem from 'unique soil characteristics in that part of the community. We're bringing in experts from all over because this isn't something we've seen before.' About half of the 25 displaced families will be able to return home in the next 10 to 15 days. He further said that it's too early to know whether the homes most affected by the collapse can be saved. 'If it's determined a home is unsafe, we'll have to talk with those folks about relocation. "

Residents of The Hills are Rivermist fear that rain may cause additional shifting. However, Thursday's rainfall failed to trigger any additional ground shifting, but authorities planed to continue to monitor overnight a collapsed retaining wall that threatened to further damage several homes.

Centex Homes spokeswomen Caryn Klebba said at about 7 p.m. Thursday,

'Nothing significant has happened because of the rain. We have had just a little bit of shifting, but right now we're monitoring the site continuously. There are people there through the night because of heavier rains to make sure everything stays in place.'

A lawsuit against The Hills of Rivermist's developer, Centex Homes, and its parent company, Pulte Homes Inc. was filed on Thursday in Bexar County's 37^th state District Court by Hilliard Munoz Guerra, LLP. The lawsuit makes claims of negligence and fraud. Bob Hilliard from Hilliard Munoz Guerra, LLP is holding a press conference at noon today regarding this unfortunate ground collapse. For more information on this subject or if you have questions, please contact me.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Beth Janicek

Full post as published by San Antonio Personal Injury Lawyer on January 29, 2010 (boomark / email).