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Landslides Cause Problems In West Mifflin

WEST MIFFLIN (KDKA) - A second landslide slowed down traffic on Route 837 in West Mifflin Wednesday afternoon.

It was roughly 3 a.m. when Route 837 in West Mifflin saw its second landslide in roughly seven hours.

Motorists were forced to swerve around the rock, debris and mud that cascaded on to the black top.

Before dawn. PennDOT had heavy equipment trying to remove what Mother Nature and gravity kept throwing down on them.

"We have a storm inlet that's buried from the landslide down here and the water is ponding up and it's coming out into the lanes," Anthony D'Angelo said.

By 8 a.m., Route 837 was down to one lane with truck after truck pulling in, filling up and pulling out.

"I probably have about maybe 10 to 15 more truckloads of stuff to haul out of here," D'Angelo said.

Meanwhile, there's the constant threat of more debris letting lose with amazing speed.

"Very quickly, yes. It can go from looking just like it does right now to all the way over to the railroad tracks in a split second," D'Angelo said.

Daniel Bodner knows all about that. He was heading home when a separate landslide on Route 837 rolled out in front of him around 8 p.m. Tuesday.

"Just saw a dark shadow come in front of me. Dirt came across the whole lane about 10 feet across the road and I tried to swerve to get out of the way and I saw two cars coming up the other way and I just had to hit the pile straight on. No time to stop," Daniel Bodner said.

There are no reported injuries and PennDOT will spend the rest of the day surveying the slide zones. When another will one happen and where are good questions, but it could be inevitable.

"With all the rain we've been having, the chances are pretty good," D'Angelo said.

A third landslide is beginning to form in the area as well and PennDOT is monitoring the situation.

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