This terrifying video shows how erosion has turned an expanse of multi-million dollar apartments along the California coast into death traps.
The images —
captured by a drone equipped with a high definition video camera — depict the horrific conditions along a cliff in posh Pacifica where residents once enjoyed spectacular ocean views from their picture windows and decks.
Now, storms caused by El Niño have eaten away at the cliffs, leaving just a few feet between the buildings and the edge — where there's an 80-foot drop to the ocean — forcing mass evacuations.
"El Niño is hitting the city's coastline very hard and creating almost daily reports of impacts to both public and private property," Pacifica City Manager Lorie Tinfow said.
In the video, large sections of the cliff can be seen falling into the sea as monster winds and 50-foot waves pound the coastline.
This week, residents of a huge apartment complex on Esplanda Drive were ordered to pack up and leave their homes for good as city officials deemed it too dangerous for them to stay,
the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Officials believe it is only a matter of days before the once highly-sought residences go crashing into the sea.
Mike Cully, who heads the Pacifica's building department, told the newspaper, "Cavities in the bluff are forming to the south, west and north of the building, and these critically over-steepened slopes are anticipated to fall back ... in the next several days."
Several feet of one ground-floor apartment can be seen hanging over open space in the drone video, which was shot by Duncan Sinfield and posted on social media.
Despite the growing danger, some residents are reluctant to leave.
"You guys are going to have to physically drag me out. I'm not leaving," Michelle McKay told the police, according to KTVU-TV.
"I'm not worried about what I see out the back. I'm worried about these guys coming here and telling us we can't live here, we can't sleep here tonight.''
The National Ocean Service describes El Niño as a "large-scale ocean-atmosphere climate interaction linked to a periodic warming in sea surface temperatures" and typically developing over North America during the upcoming winter season.
El Niño can significantly influence weather patterns and ocean conditions.
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