City to Consider Emergency Declaration Amid Gas Shutoffs, Possible Power Outages

The California community was built on one of the largest continuously active landslides in the U.S. Movement has accelerated in recent years due to heavy rain.

Collapsed homes after they slid down a hill along a street in the Rolling Hills States neighborhood in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., on July 10, 2023. Apu Gomes/AFP via Getty Images

Officials in a southern California city will vote Aug. 6 on whether to declare a new local emergency after gas service was permanently shut off last week to 135 homes sitting on an ancient—but active—landslide.

City leaders in Rancho Palos Verdes are looking for federal aid as some residents were “blindsided” by the sudden loss of natural gas July 29, creating an emergency, according to a city spokesperson.