Three years ago, just a couple weeks after his middle school graduation, Carter Zee and his family’s house was struck with an evacuation notice. The Zee family’s dinner was interrupted by a call from their neighbor, asking if there was a crack stretching down their backyard. Confused, they dismissed it and continued their dinner. When the second call came, the Zee family had to leave the restaurant immediately and rush home. Their neighbor, Brian Bae, had informed them that the ground was unstable and other houses were near collapse.
In Rancho Palos Verdes, California, all it takes is a crack in the front sidewalk of a house for one’s day to go downhill. Starting from fissures in the ground, the effects of landslides can escalate to foundation shifts and complete house, transit, and utility destruction. These natural disasters are characterized by the sudden, mass movement of materials such as rock and debris, down a slope. For many residents of Rancho Palos Verdes, landslides have been one of the biggest threats to their livelihood.
Firefighters swiftly arrived on the scene, the Zee’s entire front yard now flooding with red flashing lights, giving them twenty minutes to pack up their entire life. “I’m like, there’s no way this is actually happening,” Carter Zee, senior, describes. “My parents were bobbling between wedding pictures, baby photos, and their actual clothes and emergency food supplies. I packed as many shirts and underwear in a suitcase as I possibly could, along with my trophies, favorite plushies, electronics, and sentimental letters.”
Rancho Palos Verdes has long been plagued by landslides, the most well known Portuguese Bend Landslide dating back to the 1950s. The Portuguese Bend Landslide is continuously in motion, with a recent survey from July 2026 finding it was shifting around 0.94 inches a week.
Due to these hazards, hundreds of homes on the Palos Verdes Peninsula have suffered severe damages or red-tag destructions. Carter’s house was one of the 12 red-tagged and evacuated homes. According to the New York Times, from 2022 to June 2026, the city of Rancho Palos Verdes has spent $65 million on costs from damages caused by the landslides plaguing the area.
This phenomenon has been worsened by the continuous rise of climate change. Warming intensifies extreme rainfall, leading to less soil stability on slopes as well as increased water pore pressures. Moreover, hydroclimate whiplash, defined as the rapid shift between dangerously wet and dry conditions, has contributed and worsened landslides as well.
Forced to evacuate at a moment’s notice, Carter and his family packed their belongings into their Honda before finding temporary shelter first at an aunt’s house in Torrance, which turned into a five-month stay. Today, away from any danger from landslides that all but destroyed their old neighborhood, they live in a new house.
“It was harder for my parents because we had just bought the house, and this was supposed to be a new beginning,” Carter said. “I was stressed that I wouldn’t be able to go to Penn (Palos Verdes Peninsula High School) – which was the whole reason we had moved here.”
The Palos Verdes Cliffs. (Photo Courtesy of Leea Yoshino)
Palos Verdes Peninsula, a coastal region in southwestern Los Angeles County, California comprises of 65,000 to 77,000 people. The city is known for it’s ocean bluffs, nature-focused culture, luxury homes, and exceptional education systems.
It is also a place known for lending a hand. In what was one of the most stressful aspects of the ordeal, worries about money, community member Inga Sweet organized a GoFundMe that would go on to exceed their $10K goal to ultimately raise $49,080.
The Zee family had great concerns regarding how they would move forward, how Carter would be raised, and his education. Thankfully, With $49,080 raised out of the original $10,000 goal, the GoFundMe organized for the Zee family helped them tremendously. The community was able to truly come together and support a family in need.
Braeden Izumo, a 15 year old student at Palos Verdes Peninsula High School, attributes this facet of the community as inspiring him to do his part for as long as he’s been able to. From beach cleanups, service projects, to reconstructing trails so they’re less hazardous, including conducting renewable energy research at AltaSea, Izumo is paving the way for youth and generations that follow to play a role in preserving the area’s unique terrain and landscape.
“I think it’s really important for our generation to step up and help out in our community… the issues of landslides where we live has existed all throughout my childhood, it’s about time the next generations don’t have to worry about it as well.” Izumo says.
Anyone of any age can help the community of Rancho Palos Verdes with this ongoing issue. A way to contribute from home is by ensuring there is no water going to the ground. This includes fixing broken sprinklers, irrigation lines, or checking pools and indoor plumbing for leaks. If you come across any major cracks or sinkholes, it is crucial to report it immediately to the city rather than exploring it yourself. Moreover, there are opportunities to volunteer at PVPLC. Lastly, voting on any of the local measures for land remediation and submitting public comments to the City Council is a direct way to share your opinion on the issue.
Currently, the city of Rancho Palos Verdes continues to address this hazard. New residential construction has been banned near landslide areas. Moreover, a 42 million dollar FEMA backed buyout program is available for owners whose homes were damaged or threatened. In order to stay updated on the status of land movement, the city performs a weekly-scale GPS survey of movement rates.
Dewatering is also a crucial component of the strategy. Over half a billion of groundwater has been removed from the Portuguese Bend Landslide. The Portuguese Bend Landslide Remediation Project is under environmental review, and awaits approval for construction.
Even through it all, Carter was able to look at the bright side. “My routine was pretty much the same, minus the fact that I had to share a house with three more people… It was really cramped but it was a blessing in disguise because I ended up getting really close with my aunt, uncle, and cousin.”
Now, you can find the entire street– with around twenty homes– completely collapsed, as well as some homes marked with yellow and red tags to signal their uninhabitable status. Since that day, Carter recounts moving a total of 8 times all around the cities of Palos Verdes and Torrance. As for the other neighbors, many stayed in hotels, with families, or Airbnbs for months.
“I’m going into senior year of high school now… My entire high school experience was filled with constant moving and relocation. But, it’s okay because we were supported so much by the community, and I had a lot of opportunities to make new friends that I found a “home” in Palos Verdes and at Peninsula High.”
Helplines/Hotlines:
Emergency Services: 911
Disaster Distress Helpline: 1-800-985-5990
Rancho Palos Verdes Land Movement: landmovement@rpvca.gov
