NORTH SALT LAKE — Melissa Plowman watched her son, Luke, run across an apartment living room, pulling toys out of a box in the corner. Her son's laughter makes her smile, but beneath it all, she worries for her family.
One month ago, Luke and his two siblings were awoken in panic after their parents heard what sounded like thunder and saw their neighbors' house crushed at the bottom of a landslide.
A fireman appeared at the door of their North Salt Lake home, yelling for the family to get out. Nate and Melissa Plowman picked up their three crying children, ages 1, 4 and 7, and ran into the street, not knowing whether they would ever be able to enter their house again.
The slide stopped just short of the Plowmans' house, which is two houses up Parkway Drive from the Utrilla family's home that was destroyed. Part of the Plowmans' yard is now surrounded by upturned soil on the slide's western edge. Cement barriers and a chain link fence have been installed around the house to protect it from loose debris.
"You think about what could have happened," Nate Plowman said. "We were really lucky."
Temporary living
Since that day, the family has lived in a nearby two-bedroom apartment provided by Eaglepointe Development. While they feel grateful for the temporary residence, it's been a tight squeeze for the family of five.
"The kids have been on top of each other," Melissa Plowman said. "In general, they've been fighting more than they ever have and tensions are high."
Four-year-old Luke has had an especially hard time overcoming the idea of a landslide threatening the home he loves, Plowman said.
"Every rainstorm we've had, he's cried. And he never did before. His whole body shakes," she said. "The other day, he said, 'I don't want to die.' And I had no idea he even knew the word die. I had no idea it was affecting him in the way that it was. So it's hard to even imagine being back in that home and feeling safe."
Seven-year-old Claire recently began school again, and many of her friends have asked her what it's like not having a house anymore. Melissa Plowman says her daughter's response was simple, but sincere: "It makes me sad."
The Plowmans met Friday with city officials, who told them that their home was safe to return to. No movement has been detected in the slide for several weeks, and the risk appears to be minimal, according to Barry Edwards, city manager of North Salt Lake.
"We think that their house is not in any danger," Edwards said. "They can re-enter the home any time they like to."
City leaders announced Thursday that remediation on the slide is set to begin by Oct. 15. Construction on the top of the scarp is expected to be complete by the end of the year. Studies will continue searching for what events led to the slide and what the larger impacts of it will be down the road.
Even with the news of being able to return home, however, the family remains unsure whether they could continue living at the edge of what drove them out the door last month.
"How do you go back to a home that you can't sleep in at night?" Melissa Plowman said. "The night before this happened, we had people telling us it was safe. So now (that) people (are saying), 'It's safe, you can go back in,' how do you trust that? How do you know that something big like this won't happen again?"
Damage unseen
The Plowmans' home has yet to be appraised, but initial estimates indicate it's now worth between 25 percent and 50 percent of its original value, Melissa Plowman said. An infant photography studio in the home hasn't been used since the slide, and Plowman has had to turn clients away while the family lives in the apartment.
Perhaps what frustrates the family more than the emotional trauma is the feeling of being "overlooked and forgotten" now that the immediate danger appears to be over, Plowman said.
"I feel a little forgotten by the city and the developer in a lot of ways," she said. "We feel like we're at the mercy of others right now, not knowing what will or won't be done. In the end, we want to be where we were. We want to be back in a home where we feel safe, where our kids can go in the backyard and play and we won't be worried."
Community members are vastly supportive of Eaglepointe Development's plans to build a new home for the Utrilla family, but there are many who still have significant needs that aren't as obvious, Nate Plowman said.
"It's easier for people to understand the plight of the Utrillas because their home was smashed. They were literally in a life-or-death situation. It's easy to see that," he said. "Those who are close to us understand that even though our home wasn't run down by the landslide, it's effectively just as lost to us because it's a place that we won't ever feel comfortable going into again. ... But someone who looks on the outside doesn't understand that necessarily."
Insurance coverage for landslides is rare, and none of those seriously affected on Parkway Drive has been able to claim losses related to the slide. Other avenues for monetary assistance are still unknown.
"It's still up in the air," Nate Plowman said. "That's been one of the hardest things about this is the uncertainty. I don't know what our plan is going to be."
Community support
While much of the road ahead remains uncertain, Melissa Plowman says the community has provided regular assistance in meeting the family's immediate needs and offered moral encouragement. On the day of the slide, more than 70 people helped carry most of the Plowmans' belongings from their home to a neighbor's basement across the street.
"I can say that the opposite of being overlooked and forgotten is true of this community," she said. "Neighbors and friends and people we don't know have stepped up and been there for us."
The family says it's unlikely they will return permanently to their home on Parkway Drive. But the decision to leave the neighborhood is one they're not ready to make. Not yet.
"In all of this, with all the amazing support from the community, how do you leave that? How do you leave a group of people that come together in a disaster and have been so bonded by it?" Melissa Plowman said. "And then on that note, how do you stay? How do you feel safe?"
Email: mjacobsen@deseretnews.com, Twitter: MorganEJacobsen