PARADISE – A severe rock slide occurred late Friday night on River Road East in Paradise. Thousands of pounds of rock blocked traffic and completely covered the road. The affected section of River Road East remains closed.

According to District One Road Foreman Roger Mallery, this is one of the worst rock slides to hit the area in a while.

“There are always little ones [rock slides] when it rains but they are usually a few rocks in the road, nothing like this,” Mallery said.

There was a serious rock slide around five years ago but Mallery said this one was much worse.

Friday’s rock slide was deemed more critical not only for the size but also because it persisted. Rock continued to fall long after the initial slide occurred stretching into Saturday morning.

The prolonged falling concerned Mallery because it indicated that much of the rock over the road is unstable and a safety hazard.

“There is still rock that we are afraid will fall,” Mallery said. “Rocks are still coming down and that is what the fear is right now.”

With safety being the number one priority, Mallery called in an expert from Trout Creek to survey the area.

The unnamed expert agreed there were rocks that needed to come down but said it was not as serious as originally thought.

The plan was to bring a truck in Monday morning to help dislodge any loose rock. Once all the potentially dangerous rock is down, the road will be cleared and usable once again. The hope is to have all construction and clean-up finished by Wednesday.

Mallery believes the initial cause of the rock slide was rain coupled with cold temperatures.

“The rain worked its way under the cracks and then froze…that’s what brings them [the rocks] down,” he said.

It is the season for rockslides, according to Mallery. In winter and spring the precipitation encourages rock to fall.

“Each day we have to go out and there will be a lot of rocks on the road,” he said.

Mallery’s advice to drivers is to be careful on the roads after a significant rain or freeze because that is when it is most likely for a rock slide to occur.