MUD FLOW MENACES WEST HILLS.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand Daily News Staff Writer

A mudslide briefly trapped an elderly couple in their house here Friday, as crews raced against an approaching storm to save at least four other houses from the encroaching hillside.

No one was injured when the slope above the 22300 block of Malden Street suddenly gave way about 2:30 a.m. Friday in what inspectors say is one of the most damaging mudslides in Los Angeles this season.

The mudslide occurred after several days without significant rainfall, although another El Nino-powered storm is due today.

Rita and Virgil Palub, residents of Malden Street since 1963, were asleep when a wall of mud bore down on their home, crushing the garage and two cars inside.

``There was a big crack and I thought the roof was gone,'' said Rita Palub. ``I got up and looked around and the dining room was filled with mud and a tree.''

The force of the impact jarred all the doors shut, trapping the couple inside for 20 minutes as next-door neighbor Frank Julian, 72, struggled unsuccessfully to kick open a door.

``Finally the firemen came and busted it open, but it took a long time,'' said Julian, who also had a tree crash into the dining room of his house. It narrowly missed antique furniture and a cabinet full of crystal.

Racing the weather

City crews stacked sandbags and laid tarps into the night Friday in hopes of shoring the hillside and saving houses at the edge of the slide.

``If we don't do it - there's much more danger of damage to these properties,'' said inspector David R. Keim of the city Department of Building and Safety.

Top city geologists and engineers examined the sheared-off shelves of mud and rock and concluded that the mudslide occurred simply because the ground became saturated. Existing zoning rules would have prevented the 30-year-old homes from being built on such a steep slope, they said.

``In Los Angeles, our hillside communities are always at risk whether from earthquakes, fires or rains,'' Keim said. ``It's the nature of our geology.''

Officials said homeowners would be covered through storm insurance and some of the victims were working with insurance agents by mid-morning.

Only one home sustained major structural damage, but four neighboring houses were deemed too dangerous for residents to occupy. Inspectors said all five homes may be salvageable.

Two homes on Napa Street, both directly above the slide, stood perched on the verge of collapsing into the 30-foot chasm that had formerly been their back yards. More rain threatened to tip them over.

With the sun blazing Friday morning, residents wondered how a mudslide could come five days after the last heavy rain.

David Hsu, one of the city's top geologists, said the slide followed a classic pattern: Water seaped slowly through the fill dirt used to build these homes 30 years ago, but it was unable to penetrate the siltstone bedrock below. Instead, it broke down the binder layer between the dirt and downward sloping bedrock, causing the hillside to give way when the siltstone turned jellylike with saturation.

``This type of slide is normal a few days after a rain,'' he said.

Hsu and other officials said there was no simple reason why this slope collapsed while others even yards away stayed intact.

``There are many different factors that affect it,'' Keim said. ``The amount of rainfall, saturation, the foundations of these homes, the age of the homes, the angle of the bedding, the drainage.''

A better drainage system in the back yards of the two Napa Street homes may have prevented the slide, he said.

One thing was certain, Hsu said. Current building codes would not permit homes to be built on this steep of a slope.

Friday 13th

Unable to chalk up this disaster to a whim of Mother Nature, victims cast about for alternative explanations.

As utility and fire crews buzzed about to shut off gas, water and power lines, Millie Rodrigues and other victims asked whether a water main break could have caused the slide. They said a broken pipe was seen gushing water into the mud pit minutes after the earth moved.

Keim said there no evidence that any water pipes ruptured prior to the slide.

``Friday the 13th, that must be a bad luck day,'' said Rodrigues, 73, who escaped from her home with just a bathrobe. ``It was the first thing I thought about when I came to my senses.''

Like other residents, Lou Vaughn, 66, awoke with a start to a rushing sound as the packed dirt that had supported his patio and jacuzzi tumbled toward his neighbors' houses.

``I looked out the window and lo and behold - the patio wasn't there anymore. I was looking right down into that mess,'' he said, gesturing to the pit of mud and torn pipes that had claimed his lawn furniture.

Vaughn later realized that all of the dirt supporting his bedroom had also washed away.

``It was just the strength of the slab that kept us from going along with everything else,'' he said. Clutching two cups of coffee and a cigarette, he added: ``I'm not sure if I'm incoherent but I'm still a little in shock.''

So too were 10 of his neighbors who were also forced to find new homes for at least the next several days.

The corner house on Malden escaped structural damage. But owner Richard Magdaleno knew his home of 20 years was still in danger as a 10-foot bank of mud and uprooted trees loomed just feet from the back door.

``I thought it was very, very safe here. We survived the Northridge Earthquake and the El Nino syndrome when it drenched us a lot more than this,'' he said. ``The whole thing is so sad. My wife and I put so much work into this house. It can get destroyed so quickly, it's scary.''

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos, Map

PHOTO (1--Color) These two homes were among five houses in West Hills damaged by a mudslide when a slope suddenly gave way early Friday.

(2) A van dangles over the precipice of a hillside in West Hills that collapsed Friday, damaging five homes and threatening further damage.

(3) West Hills resident Janet Norton looks at what formerly was the back yard of her home. The yard was swept away Friday.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News

MAP: Site of mudslides