I just read this news article on landslides in Seattle, Washington. According to the article there is a lot of precipitation in November and December in Washington, and this local news article gives pointers on how to avoid landslides from happening on your property. While this article gives good tips, from planting vegetation to using a catch basin, it mentions that there are 18,000 homes in Seattle alone that are in landslide-prone areas. I think that it is funny that the article does not mention that these landslide disasters from the past and future could be, or could have been avoided with better zoning. In addition, the picture the article shows is of a huge house, obviously owned by a wealthy person, sitting on the edge of a steep slope. This just goes to show how the most desired property to build on is often not the safest property, but people continue to build on these dangerous places, such as slopes, coasts or lake fronts, because of their aesthetic value. However, it is reassuring that the local news is trying to better prepare these people for disaster events that have a high chance of occurring.
It is also interesting that the article uses the term "landslides" when many different mass wastage events could occur. However, it would be confusing and different to the public to call them "mass wastage events" instead of "landslides".
Above: the house from the article
The article from The Seattle Times:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2013441916_landslide16m.html
Other similar articles:
http://www.westseattleherald.com/2010/11/15/news/landslide-season-looms-west-seattle
http://westseattleblog.com/2010/11/west-seattle-weather-watch-on-a-slope-be-landslide-aware
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