RICHMOND, Minn. -- Every crisis has a beginning. For Neil Cook it started with something he spotted in his backyard a week-and-a-half ago.
"We just thought it was a little crack in the ground," said the retiree. "Didn't think much of it at the time."
Now it's all he can think about, as the crack widened and parts of Cook's backyard have slid all the way down to Horseshoe Lake.
"That big tree was right next to my house," explains Ron Gannon, who lives in the house next door. He points to a large basswood tree that has slid 30 feet downhill from his house.
Gannon now needs to step down on a ladder to enter his backyard. From there he can see part of his neighbor's septic system, now above ground.
In his lifetime, it's something he never expected to see. "No definitely not. I would have rather not seen it now."
Dave Nett, a senior environmental specialist for Stearns County, says incidents of this kind are rare in Minnesota. "I mean you almost have the situation where you're in Malibu, California, where you have the mudslides, the severe mudslides."
Nett says Cook and Gannon can blame the weather. Their saturated soil is sliding down an under-layer of clay.
"The whole slope is just migrating toward the bottom and Mother Nature is trying to find a stable point," said Greg Berg, a shoreline specialist for the county's Soil & Water Conservation District.
Last week contractors installed anchors to hold Cook and Gannon's homes in place.
"This time last week it was suggested we might just want to let the houses go," said Kay Cook, Neil's wife, "so we are far ahead this week."
Engineers are now trying to figure out how to stabilize the soil. The fix will not be cheap, and will not be covered by homeowner's insurance. Moving ground is exempt under both men's policies.
Two other homes are also showing cracks in their yards.
"How do you put something like this in perspective, Neil Cook was asked?
"Ask me in about a year,"
(Copyright 2011 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)