Homeless People in California Are Now Living in Elaborate Caves Alongside Rivers: Report

TOPSHOT-US-ECONOMY-POVERTY-HOMELESSNESS-LOS ANGELES — (Photo : Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images) A homeless man sits on a luggage bag along a downtown Los Angeles street lined with tents housing the homeless on November 22, 2023 in Los Angeles, California, where skyrocketing rents in recent years has led to an increasing rise in the number of unhoused people. Some 75,500 people live on the streets of Los Angeles and its sprawling suburbs, according to a January survey. The figure is up 70 percent since 2015, in a city where sometimes shocking levels of inequality are on daily display.

Homeless people in California are now living in elaborate cave networks underneath the Tuolumne River amid the state's ongoing crisis with unhoused residents, according to a report.

A local CBS News affiliate this month reported on the homeless encampment that has taken root in underground caves dug along the side of the Tuolumne River in Modesto, California. The caves, which were about 20 feet below street level, were accessible via makeshift stairs built into the hillside.

Residents who live in the area have expressed concerns over the safety of the homeless people living in the caves. They were also concerned about the trash spreading into the river.

"If one of these were to collapse, it would be devastating," Tracy Rojas, a homeowner that lives near the caves, told CBS13 in an interview. "This whole thing would come down and go into the water."

One of the caves visited by the CBS13 team and Rojas used to be fully furnished with bedding, belongings, food, a makeshift mantel, drugs, and weapons.

"You can see the hooks on the wall where they had bottles and stuff hanging down," Rojas said. "I think there needs to be more emphasis on the homeless. They are at the point where you can see they are desperate."

The Modesto Police Department, in collaboration with the Tuolumne River Trust and Operation 9-2-99-a volunteer river clean-up organization-worked together to clean up the cave networks and surrounding areas. At least 7,600 pounds of trash were cleared from the caves.

Other Cave Networks

This is not the first incident of homeless people setting up camps along California's rivers. In 2022, a similar cave along the Tuolumne River was also discovered by a CBS13 crew. Also in the same year, they found cleared-out cave networks in Stanislaus County into the banks below Highway 108 and 120. Those caves were also cleared out, but homeless communities have come back.

"As soon as they get kicked out, the night after they get kicked out, they just start digging," nearby resident Eddi Eagleton told the outlet. "Doesn't seem like anyone can slow them down or stop them."

California has the highest rate or homelessness in the country with 162,000 unhoused individuals. That accounts for nearly 30% of the state's population, according to the World Population Review.