The final blast of rain made its way through the Bay Area Thursday and brought a rude wake up call for people living along a certain Pacifica cliff.
People in six units along Esplanade Avenue were told to pack up and get out just after 7 a.m. Thursday. They are next door to an already evacuated complex. Those people have been out of their homes since the week of Christmas.
The news came after a 10-foot chunk of cliff side fell into the ocean just after sunrise.
It was so unexpected, some morning television reporters had packed up and left the area thinking the news was over for the day.
Not so. A city inspector told people living in 320 Espanade Avenue they had to leave. Immediately after that, several people were seen carrying boxes and plastic containers from their apartments.
One resident said he heard the bluff fall and said it sounded like an earthquake. When he walked out to his back patio he looked down to see the ocean, where before there was a sidewalk and railing.
Doug Rider, Pacifica's chief building inspector, said he thinks the building will be yellow tagged so that people can have some access to their property.
Engineers have been called to the scene to assess the situation.
Rider said it has not yet been determined whether the remaining residents of the 20-unit building at 320 Esplanade Ave. will need to evacuate today.
