After heavy rains, homes collapse along St. Joseph bluff

SBT 24/7 News Report

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St. Joseph Police were called about 4:20 p.m. Sunday when a resident on Lions Park Drive saw parts of the house above collapsing at 1008 Lake Blvd. (Photo courtesy of Mark Parren)

By SBT 24/7 News

Story Created: Dec 29, 2008 at 6:17 AM EST

Story Updated: Dec 29, 2008 at 10:18 AM EST

ST. JOSEPH — Two homes in St. Joseph, Michigan are in a precarious position Monday after soil from the bluff upon which they sit began to erode from beneath them.

Police were called about 4:20 p.m. Sunday when a resident on Lions Park Drive, which sits below the homes closer to Lake Michigan, saw parts of the home above collapsing at 1008 Lake Blvd.

When officers arrived, they found that part of the basement wall had collapsed. Dirt and parts of the home had caved in and fallen down the bluff to the CSX railroad tracks.

Police also found a second home, at 1002 Lake, was affected by the erosion.

No one was home at either residence, and no one was injured, but the street was closed for several hours while utility crews shut off gas, electricity and water to the homes.

One southbound train was held up as debris was cleared from the tracks.

St. Joseph Police said recent rainfall and melting snow may have contributed to the erosion.

At the National Weather Service Northern Indiana office in Syracuse, meteorologist John Taylor said he had just seen the morning news report on the homes sliding off the bluff.

Taylor, who has worked here for a decade, said the home collapse is the kind of thing one sees in places like California after heavy rains, but rarely here.

"I've never heard of anything like that happening up there before," Taylor told SBT24/7 News.

Taylor said Berrien County received heavier rains over the weekend than South Bend did, with amounts to two inches.

The weather may indeed have played a role in the homes' collapse, Taylor said. But he stressed that a number of factors may be involved and included in a full investigation of what caused it.

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