Silicon Valley’s notorious homeless camp, ‘The Jungle’, dismantled

Authorities are dismantling a notorious homeless camp known as "The Jungle" in the heart of California's affluent Silicon Valley, where skyrocketing rents have forced hundreds onto the streets.

Municipal workers in white overalls and face masks moved into the camp along a creek in San Jose on Thursday where some 300 people live in tents and other makeshift lodging.

"It is a disgrace," said housing advocate Sandy Perry, adding: "It's an example of the total failure of our city's housing policy as well as our state and our nation."

"It's like a big family," said Yolanda Gutierrez, a former resident. "We all looked out for each other, especially the females that are single. We all had our own little group that we would check up on each other.

"But unfortunately what they just did to us today it's like they split the family apart."

The encampment, only a few minutes away from San Jose's downtown district, is home to people forced out of an overheating rental market as lucrative tech companies moved in.