Young mother left without home after backyard disappears in landslide

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (FOX 11) - The recent storms caused destruction to the backyard of a home in Santa Clarita forcing a family to stay elsewhere.

"It's shocking it's surprising it was really scary when it first happened because I was here by myself with the babies," said young mom Stephanie Estrada.

Estrada describes the nightmarish scene unfolding in her backyard on Terri Drive.

"We hang out a lot back here so it's really unfortunate," she said.

The unfortunate turn of events began on Monday when Estrada says she notices some small cracks in her patio. Then, just 48 hours later, those small cracks grew. Her once flat backyard was now a full-blown landslide.

"I just kind of noticed a little wall was a little funky over there I walked out here and that's what I saw about a 2-foot drop I saw a split to my palm tree and I saw the fence was falling down," said Estrada.

She called the City and her homeowner's association who is working with geologists to investigate the cause and determine the next steps, but for now, with the ground still moving, Estrada and her family are left in limbo.

"Hopefully they'll figure it out and hopefully we will get a nice beautiful backyard and hopefully our house it's still safe because they can't really tell what's underneath us at this point," Estrada said.

The City sent inspectors who, on Friday afternoon, yellow-tagged her home and three others including two homes directly below the sliding earth.

"We can come during the day to gather some things for right now but it's no safe so they've shut off our gas and we have to leave the house," said Estrada.

Estrada says the backyard has slipped about 10-12 feet in some areas and is still unstable. She and her family are staying in a hotel and are prohibited from coming home for at least 30 days.