A slow-moving landslide that has devoured the runway of a hilltop airport in West Virginia now has destroyed a church and caused the evacuation of dozens of families.
The landslide on a man-made hill near near Yeager Airport in Charleston crumpled at least one home and Keystone Apostolic Church. It also filled Two Mile Creek, causing flooding,
UPI reported.
About 100 evacuated residents were staying in hotels, and airport officials were working with the families to develop a plan for when they might return,
WSAZ-TV reported Sunday.
"I don't understand how you can build another mountain on another mountain that's already there and then expect it not to fall in," resident Sharon Titcher said, according to the station.
Officials feared that rain over the weekend would worsen the landslide, but it held steady, WSAV said. Engineers are monitoring it, marking the ground to measure its movement.
The airport is considering how to clean up the mess, including whether to buy properties that have been damaged, WSAZ said. Along with the two destroyed buildings, many other houses been damaged by flooding.
Engineers have been monitoring the fill since September, when it first began moving slightly,
MetroNews reported. The movement worsened last week. The fill is 270 feet tall and contains 1.5 million cubic yards of dirt.
About a third of the fill project fell during the landslide, the
Charleston Gazette reported. A gas line ruptured during the slide, affecting about 30 customers. Officials also shut off a water main.
The Kanawha-Charleston Humane Association was among the evacuees, moving more than 200 animals on Thursday,
WOWK-TV reported. The animals returned to the shelter on Sunday.
"This has just been a real awakening on how blessed we are to have our facility. We've come to the realization that pets in our care aren't homeless, they have a home with us and we are waiting on their families," KCHA director Chelsea Staley said.
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