It was recently discovered that a group of homeless in California had been residing in massive fully furnished caves dug 20 feet below street level along the banks of a river in Modesto.
The groups were evicted from the eight caves along the Tuolumne River in Modesto over the weekend.
During this process, they were compelled to empty their possessions, furniture, and 7,600 pounds of trash, which was sufficient to fill two trucks and a trailer.
Certain caverns were embellished with murals, exhibited damaged floor tiles, and one even constructed a rudimentary fireplace featuring a chimney.
It occurs as Los Angeles conducts its annual homeless count in an effort to obtain an authentic depiction of the rough sleeper population in the city, following last year’s discovery that 75,500 individuals resided rough in the county on any given night.
The cave-dwelling community had improvised stairs carved into the hillside in order to descend to the caverns.
Safety concerns reportedly necessitated the evacuation of the caverns.
Rojas claims that in the past, certain caverns were adorned with provisions, food, bedding, and even a makeshift mantelpiece; additionally, they contained weapons and illicit substances.
The police had previously entered the caverns to clear them, as they are notoriously inhabited.
Homelessness has become a “state of emergency” in California, where businesses are abandoning some of the state’s urban cores and violence is on the rise.
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