Drivers Evacuated as Slab of California Highway Plunges Into Pacific

More than 1,600 drivers were stranded and hundreds evacuated when a section of California's coastal Highway 1 crumbled into the Pacific at Big Sur over the weekend.

Sections of the two-lane highway remained closed Monday after heavy rains Saturday battered a portion of the scenic road about 17 miles south of Monterey, causing what transportation officials referred to as a "slip out" of asphalt dow the steep coastal cliffs.

It was unclear when all repairs would be completed.

Scores of drivers were forced to sleep in their cars Saturday night until everyone was escorted to safety, said transportation officials.

Linda Molinari of Hollister, California, told Fresno's KFSN-TV that she and her boyfriend ended up sleeping in his van after they went to lunch in Big Sur on Saturday.

"It was really hard when the firefighters said, 'Oh, you get to sleep here tonight,'" Molinari told the station on Easter Sunday after they returned home.

Crews worked Sunday and Monday to stabilize the edge of the crumbling highway. Transportation workers on Monday were leading "convoys" of drivers along single lanes in some sections of the road.

Drivers were asked to "avoid all unnecessary travel" in the area, and access to popular parks alog the coast was shut down.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom's office said it's "coordinating closely" with state agencies to continue to address the problem.

The Big Sur region is notorious for landslides and highway cave-ins, with some major disasters over the last few years.

Tags

California, Climate change, Pacific Ocean