When the news copters were hovering overhead and strangers were handing out $100 checks, it was easier for Lori Herek and her Bluebird Canyon neighbors to feel optimistic about recovering from Laguna Beach's June 1 landslide.
More than five weeks later, though, reality is setting in. Mortgage payments are due on destroyed houses. American Red Cross assistance has run out. The welcome mat is wearing thin with friends who have provided temporary shelter. And federal or state aid is doubtful.
"Every day that goes by it's becoming more and more nerve-racking," said Herek, 49, who lost her Flamingo Road house. "We just don't know what to do."
With the initial shock of the disaster having receded, Bluebird Canyon residents are grappling with long-term challenges.
At first, "there's a lot of spontaneous reaching out, heroism and a palpable sense of community and caring," said Frank Ochberg, a Michigan State University psychiatry professor who has studied disaster aftermaths.
But once that initial outpouring of public sympathy and media attention evaporates, victims face financial struggles, feuds and other problems that can drag on for years.
Bluebird Canyon residents are dealing with post-landslide life in a range of ways -- from angry activism to Zen-like poise. For many, the largest hurdle is avoiding financial ruin.
"How do you pay the mortgage on a house that no longer exists, pay rent on a temporary residence and save to build a new home without getting any government aid?" asked Diane Stevens, standing outside her family's shattered Flamingo Road cottage. "Why is this natural disaster any different from the floods, hurricanes, tornados and earthquakes for which there exists a safety net?"
The Federal Emergency Management Agency used to pick up the tab for restoring slopes after landslides, but stopped a few years ago because of high costs and questions about the wisdom of rebuilding in such unstable areas. Insurance policies that cover landslide damage are rare.
"It sounds really bad, but I wish it had been a fire instead. Then we'd be insured -- and insurance would be paying for a place for us to live and to rebuild a home," said Tripp Meister, whose Bluebird Canyon Drive house was partially crushed.
City officials have pledged to rebuild the hillside and are exploring ways to finance the project. They also have asked FEMA to piggyback the slide onto disaster declarations from February's severe rainstorms. That would bring in federal and state money for repairing streets and utilities, and allow residents to apply for low-cost reconstruction loans.
