Cracks infuse the structure. They also collect runoff rainwater from the roof in a plastic garbage can. The metal barn, built five years ago, shows twists and gaps. The ground is full of pits, slopes and cracks that weren't there a few months ago. Three years of heavy rains have reactivated an ancient landslide, and there's little that can be done about it Entering the house is like boarding a listing ship.
Trees stand at crazy angles.
And at night, the landowners sometimes can feel the land slip. Edward and Diana Mellis slowly are being dispossessed by Mother Nature. Greased by this winter's torrential rains, a great plate of alluvial soil is gradually carrying away the Mellis homestead and the adjoining properties of two other owners. Wash. It could be a harbinger of things to come, warned a Portland State University geology professor who has mapped Portland-area landslide zones for Metro. Scott Burns said that three years of heavy rains have reactivated an ancient landslide.