Drone Video Shows Impact Of Landslide Damage To Big Sur's Highway 1

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BIG SUR (CBSLA.com) — New drone video of a massive landslide south of Big Sur shows just how drastically Highway 1 and the California coastline has been damaged by a million tons of rock and dirt.

Caltrans estimates the slide is five football fields wide and juts 250 feet into the Pacific, changing the coastline below to include what now looks like a rounded skirt hem, California Department of Transportation spokeswoman Susana Cruz said earlier this week.

More than 1 million tons of rock and dirt slide down an area called Mud Creek, covering about a quarter of a mile stretch of Highway 1.

This latest landslide is actually the third of the year, and just the latest gut punch to the region after last winter's record rainfall. Two other landslides to the north, along with floods, have taken out bridges and highways, closed campgrounds and forced some resorts to shut down temporarily or use helicopters to fly in guests and supplies.

Highway 1 along Mud Creek had already been closed to repair buckled pavement and remove debris. Caltrans says it can't start clearing the landslide or repair the road until the earth stabilizes and it's safe for workers to come back.