Piece by piece, Whidbey Island couple losing front yard
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LANGLEY, Wash. -- A Whidbey Island couple has spent the last week watching their front yard disappear, dropping piece by piece down a 200 -foot cliff.
And the worst part is they're helpless to stop it.
Rosalee Ballinger has seen the chunks fall away. She sees the 50-foot-wide hole where a 500-year-old yew tree once stood.
Her husband, Roy, said it all started about a week ago.
"All of a sudden one day, out of God's wonderment, there was this geyser and it was probably squirting 25, 30 feet in the air," he said,.
The geyser seemed to come out of nowhere.
"We cry and we laugh," Rosallee said. "I don't know what we are going to do. It's devastating, absolutely devastating."
Roy said he doesn't think it's going to get to the house, but said his shop -- which he calls his pride and joy -- is certainly in the path of destruction.
"I don't know of any way to stop it," he said. "God started it, God will have to stop it."
The fire department is worried about the deterioration, too. Hidden in the dirt is an underground propane tank. On Wednesday morning the tank was 12 feet from the edge, but by late afternoon it was 12 inches.
"It could explode a valve, could bust off or the tank slides down the hillside innocently. (We) don't know," said assistant fire chief Mike Cotton.
The water department and the fire department checked all the lines in the area and found no leaks. They say the probable cause is a natural spring that apparently changed its course.
There are no homes below the Ballinger property.
And the worst part is they're helpless to stop it.
Rosalee Ballinger has seen the chunks fall away. She sees the 50-foot-wide hole where a 500-year-old yew tree once stood.
Her husband, Roy, said it all started about a week ago.
"All of a sudden one day, out of God's wonderment, there was this geyser and it was probably squirting 25, 30 feet in the air," he said,.
The geyser seemed to come out of nowhere.
"We cry and we laugh," Rosallee said. "I don't know what we are going to do. It's devastating, absolutely devastating."
Roy said he doesn't think it's going to get to the house, but said his shop -- which he calls his pride and joy -- is certainly in the path of destruction.
"I don't know of any way to stop it," he said. "God started it, God will have to stop it."
The fire department is worried about the deterioration, too. Hidden in the dirt is an underground propane tank. On Wednesday morning the tank was 12 feet from the edge, but by late afternoon it was 12 inches.
"It could explode a valve, could bust off or the tank slides down the hillside innocently. (We) don't know," said assistant fire chief Mike Cotton.
The water department and the fire department checked all the lines in the area and found no leaks. They say the probable cause is a natural spring that apparently changed its course.
There are no homes below the Ballinger property.
If there were resources for it, geoengineering could be used to drain the water out safely. A horizontal dewatering drain in the cliff. I've seen one like this in the cliffs at Newport Beach, CA. I do not know how much that would cost and I am not an engineer, just thinking. I'd also be curious about upland water sources and if there have been any recent changes. It seems odd to me that a spring would change course for no reason, so what's the reason, I wonder? I am very sorry for the people's troubles and hope something good happens.
Man, that sucks. I feel bad for you guys! Hopefully it will stop before it takes away more of your property.
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And for those of you saying that this is what they get for purchasing property on a cliff, it doesn't matter if it is the ground giving way, a hurricane, an earthquake, whatever, it is still a heartbreaking loss that they have no control over. Natural disasters can happen to anyone.
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Show a little respect.
OTT a bit but if the state had a road or anything deemed value to the state they'd be out there with all resources engaged to fix it regardless of the .. homeowners and their property taxes that pay all their salaries get stiffed with an endless permitting process and denial to use solutions that only they can use.. say rip rap to preserve shoreline.
@SensationaLies Its private property, and does not benefit other citizens. Roads and other infrastructure do benefit others and we depend on those. So yeah, off the topic.
So very sorry for the Ballingers. Watching your real estate...your home and plants, greenhouse, shop that were thoughtfully placed years ago....disappear....dreadful. So sorry. I live alongside a river and have watched similar destruction as water innocently fins whatever way it can to move on.
For all of you saying that's what they get for buying on a hillside/cliff. The tree was FIVE HUNDRED years old. I know I'm not nearly as smart as you all but I would take that as a sign of stable ground.
Mr. Johnson, some more information would make this story better. for instance: the story says "nothing can be done" why not? what steps are they able to take to protect their house? Is it doomed to fall in or could they secure the hill somehow? Was the greenhouse emptied? Are they able to move it or at least dismantle it so they don't lose all that material? Are they sleeping in the house? Have they emptied their house?
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Where's the meat of this story?
Growing up on Camano Island we saw lots of people on the bluffs lose property to crumbling banks. My thoughts go out to these people, but please think before you buy or build on a hill side.Â
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Just a small taste of what the polar bears feel.
Tip of the iceberg. Too many houses period. Let alone the ones built on unstable ground.
Poor family. I hope their house will be okay. Very sad about the 500 year old yew tree.
I dated a man named Cliff. I called him Cliffy When he retired from being a detective he wrote cliffhangars for the late night radio. Cliff was real edgy at times especially since he lived on the edge.  The talk of marriage came up and he said he could not commit because he felt it was too great a precipice and he could never just jump into things.  He was only bluffing as we set a date to be married just as I was about to dump him for a boy named Sue. Well to make short story long just a week before the wedding Cliff was crabbing on the coast where he met a dame who was collecting seashells on the seashore and fell head over heals for her.  The dames name was Sandy Beach. Turns out they made a cute couple. Cliff Edge and Sandy Beach. They had a baby boy and named him Rocky. Go figure.Â
If this was our house, I would probably get blamed for not turning the sprinkler off soon enough. Because everything is my fault.
That's a shame, they obviously put their heart and soul into that property. I hope they have good health, that is worth much more.Â
I lived in a house there that was on no-bank waterfront, but it backed up to a bank... after a rainstorm and an earthquake, the high bank slid off and crashed into my house knocking it 6" off the foundation. The fire department made me leave until the bank was stabilized. I was probably lucky the neighbors above me didn't land in my livingroom with all their furniture and their house!! Â I hope the cliffside stabilizes for these folks and they can save their house and hopefully they've taken the proper measures to safely decomission that propane tank. It seems a propane tank explodes at least once a year out on S. Whidbey... it's a deafening (and dangerous) experience when they go.
We live in the East of England, our coast is disappearing, yet the govt will do nothing for the people who live there, but they're soon enough to condemn their houses/business properties :(These aren't rich people either....
Assuming this property is Waterfront, I wouldn't complain too much....pretty soon it will be no-bank!
Mother Nature always takes what is hers.
Bummer! But it is the possible repercussion from buying a waterfront or cliff front home. Â
The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away....Â
Very sorry for their loss!!!! But I have always thought that the houses built on the cliffs around here must be built by crazy people who like to take risks.
This is a freak of nature with the switch of an underground spring, but what about when itâs rained for months on end as it often does here, the soils are saturated and we get that big inevitable earthquake. I think we will see more houses and yards going over. Years back in Mukilteo a whole tennis court went over the side of the cliff into Puget Sound. It isnât the 1st and it wonât be the last!Â
Sorry they are loosing their home but they took the risk now they pay the price.
Thats what happens when you get water/cliff front property. Duh