The cancellation of a federal emergency grant program will hurt Rancho Palos Verdes' long-term efforts against land movement.
Fernando Haro, Patch Staff
RANCHO PALOS VERDES, CA — Rancho Palos Verdes could miss out on federal funding to mitigate issues caused by the slow-moving landslide after the cancellation of a grant that was supposed to help communities prepare for natural disasters, according to a report by LAist.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced earlier this month that it was ending the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program and canceling all BRIC applications from Fiscal Years 2020 to 2023, claiming it was "wasteful" and had become too "politicized."
“The BRIC program was yet another example of a wasteful and ineffective FEMA program," the government agency said in a statement in early April. "It was more concerned with political agendas than helping Americans affected by natural disasters."
SEE ALSO: 'Getting Worse By The Day': Palos Verdes' Fast-Moving Landslide
Rancho Palos Verdes Mayor David Bradley said the city asked for $23 million when it applied for the grant in 2022, according to the report by LAist. The city was promised only $2.3 million, but never received any money, according to the report.
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“The issue is that this is taking the money that we would be using for long-term solutions off the table again, and putting the city in a position where the only thing the city can do financially is the near term immediate emergency remediation tasks,” Bradley told LAist. “We can't get ahead of it. We can't do long-term planning.”
The Portuguese Bend landslide has caused significant problems to the city of Rancho Palos Verdes and residents, whose multi-million-dollar homes have been destroyed.
Although landslides aren't a new occurrence in the Rancho Palos Verdes area, land was moving at rates of several inches a week due to heavy rains over the past two years. To combat this, the city has been installing deep dewatering wells to relieve water pressure on the slide plane as a short-term solution.
Last year on the campaign trail, President Donald Trump gave a speech in Palos Verdes where he owns a golf course. He implied that more should be done to help the landslide victims.
"I want to express my support for all of the families affected by the landslides in Rancho Palos Verdes," Trump said during the campaign stop. "This area is very solid, but you go a couple of miles down, you'll see something that's pretty amazing. The mountain is moving. And it could be stopped but they need some help from the government. So I hope they get the help."
Read more from the LAist.
Local Editor Rachel Barnes contributed to this report.