Condo residents displaced by mudslide

HOT SPRINGS — Two buildings in a condominium complex on Lake Hamilton in south Hot Springs had to be evacuated Saturday morning after an adjacent retaining wall collapsed in a mudslide.

Hot Springs police Cpl. Patrick Langley said the collapse of the retaining wall at Catalina Cove Condominiums, at 112 Catalina Cove, occurred “most likely because of rain.”

According to the National Weather Service’s Facebook page, Garland County received between 1½ and 2 inches of rain in the 24-hour period ending Saturday morning.

Langley said there are “no injuries we are aware of at this time.” While he said some of the homes were in danger, all occupants of both the building above the retaining wall and the one below it were safely evacuated.

As of 11 a.m., Langley said there was “no timeline for cleanup.” He said a geologist would be brought in to advise how to move forward. Langley said the geologist could say they are able to start immediately, or he could say they need multiple days to make the area safe.

At least two of the occupants of the building on top of the retaining wall said they witnessed the wall collapse. Carl McCord said he noticed something was off early in the morning when he started hearing weird noises.

“I heard it around 5 in the morning, something popping,” McCord said. After initially thinking he was hearing neighbors slamming their doors, McCord said he did a lap around the property to try to find the cause of the sound.

After finding nothing, McCord called neighbor Tom Thornton to see if he was also hearing the sound.

“My neighbor called me,” Thornton confirmed. Thornton, who said he lives in North Little Rock, said he was also hearing a “popping and crunching” sound.

The two walked outside and, Thornton said, “We could see the patio separating from the building, literally in that moment. Then the ground started moving, so we jumped back and went back over the edge of the crack in the ground, and then the ground caved away.”

“It just collapsed,” Thornton said.

McCord said he had just moved into his condo two and a half months ago. “Just got new appliances (Friday),” he said. Looking at his phone, McCord said he called Thornton at 8:02 a.m., and then the collapse happened at 8:15.

As with the cleanup, Langley said that he didn’t know how long the two buildings would have to be kept vacant. “It’s probably going to be closed for a while,” he said.

The collapse happened next door to Home2 Suites by Hilton. Langley said the hotel was offering residents of the two condos rooms. He called the hotel “good neighbors.”