Rancho Palos Verdes homeowners scrambling after gas got shutoff amid land movement damage

LOS ANGELES COUNTY, Calif. - There are 135 homes in the Rancho Palos Verdes area where the gas has been turned off and now homeowners are left doing things like buying new electric appliances.

Homeowners like Tom Keefer found themselves today buying new electric water heaters and ordering an electric stove and other electric appliances after the natural gas service at his house was shut off at 9 a.m.

What caused all of this? On Friday, SoCalGas discovered its main two-inch underground gas line going through this area was bent and damaged by the continual land movement that's been going on here. 

Officials said it was just too dangerous and had no idea of when the service could be restored except to say it could be restored when the ground conditions improve.

Supervisor Janice Hahn was one of a number of officials who attended what she called an all-hands-on-deck meeting to discuss the action. 

SoCalGas offered to give homeowners $2,500 to help, but to Hahn, that's not enough and she encouraged SoCalGas to do more.

She also agreed with homeowners that they were not given enough time to prepare and, according to Hahn, officials got a commitment from all of the utilities to communicate more effectively in the future.

For now, residents are struggling to figure out how to cook, wash their clothes and shower. 

To homeowner Bill Hunter, "I'm going to have to get a couple of new hot water heaters and I'm going to have to figure out a new heating system," said Bill Hunter, a homeowner.

And to Tom Keefer $2500 isn't enough. 

"We did the math. If I needed to replace all the gas appliances in the house it's $20,000," Keefer said.

And, so for now, homeowners are scrambling to figure out to deal with life without natural gas.