Wyoming Mudslide: Evacuation Orders Remain in Effect

An unstable hillside has continued to move since it forced dozens from their homes last week in the Wyoming resort town of Jackson over the slim but persistent risk of a sudden landslide, but the shifting was not accelerating, authorities said Sunday.
"Basically, the movement is remaining fairly constant," incident spokeswoman Charlotte Reynolds said. "So we're having to monitor our excitement, but it is still moving so it is obviously still a concern."

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Geologists and others are watching the hill's movement with the help of ground monitoring equipment. A geologist has put the risk of sudden collapse at just 5 percent. So far, only one unoccupied home, which is directly atop the slide zone, has sustained damage.
About 60 people haven't stayed at their homes since Wednesday. Officials say the move was a precaution in the wake of Washington state's deadly landslide and was also tied to damage of the only access road.
The unstable hillside is about the size of two football fields and is along a main artery outside the historic downtown area.
Reynolds said some residents outside the highest-risk area were thinking about returning to their homes and apartments despite the evacuation order. But she said she wasn't aware of anyone actually doing so. Residents are allowed escorted access to their homes to check on them and pick up personal belongings, but no one is allowed to stay overnight.
"The evacuation order remains in place, and officials strongly encourage residents to adhere to that evacuation order," Reynolds said.
Land movements in the area already led to the closure of a Walgreens at the base of the hill, broke water pipes and buckled a road. Councilman Jim Stanford toured a house above the Walgreens, at the base of the hill Wednesday and said it was "trashed" inside from the land movements, reports the Associated Press. Stanford said the living room in the house is sloped downhill, the floor is breaking apart and various items have fallen off the walls. Outside the house, sizeable cracks have formed in the driveway and the structure appears off-kilter, the Jackson Hole News & Guide reports.
While a specific cause for the land shifting has yet to be determined, Machan told the Jackson Hole News & Guide that human actions probably contributed to the cause of the slide. Recent construction efforts and a water leak are just a few of the potential catalysts for the slide.
Regardless, the threat of further damage in the area, including a more drastic slide, lingered Friday. As a result, Jackson town officials said there's more work to be done to determine the threat level of the slide.
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