NC mudslide evacuees urged to stay away for weeks

MAGGIE VALLEY, N.C. — A weekend mudslide has left North Carolina officials urging some residents to stay away from their mountainside homes.

The Asheville Citizen-Times reported Monday that a 30-foot high wall of mud and rocks tumbled down a road near Maggie Valley.

Emergency workers evacuated 40 people from a dozen homes that had become isolated by the mudslide.

Investigators say recent heavy rain and snow were factors in the Friday night accident. They fear rain forecast for this week could bring more earth sliding down Buck Mountain.

Betty Miner’s home was damaged in the mudslide. She says she was urged to stay away for weeks because of the risk.

A 2003 landslide in the area killed a woman whose home was crushed.

Information from: The Asheville Citizen-Times

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)