I have been wanting to write something about the La Conchita landslide for some time, and anniversary of its occurrence last week as recounted in the LA Times gave me something to hang it on.La Conchita is a hamlet on the Ventura/Santa Barbara County line along US 101 just south of here. Last January, during a period of heavy rains, the hillside gave way above the community and ten people were killed. It was a tragedy that was a one-week wonder on the cable news channels. Gov. Schwarzenegger came and vowed to help the people rebuild. But a year later not much has been done.
A look at the picture above will tell you why. You can plainly see the scar of the landslide on the hill. If you look closely to the left of it, you will see another scar, more overgrown with vegetation, from a 1994 landslide that luckily hurt no one. The 2005 landslide was not a bolt out of the blue. Everyone has known this situation has existed for many years, and as people tend to do (especially I think here in California) just ignored the unpleasant truth.
Predictably, the victims' families are suing Ventura County for not protecting them. Residents are unhappy that Ventura County won't spend $30-40 million on terracing the slope to protect the 250 or so people who still live there. The County says that the situation is so unstable that terracing can't guarantee another slide won't happen.
Libby Bodio used to live in the area and a former co-worker of hers was one of the ten people killed. We talked about this last week and her take was, "...all you have to do is take one look at La Conchita and you can see that it is not a good place to live. Even a rudimentary idea of geology makes it obvious that sooner or later, gravity will take over and the hill will slide. I always used to shake my head when I drove down the PCH through Malibu and Santa Monica -- you could always see the half-houses and swimming pools on the hillsides. The same at Faria Beach -- the ocean has been pounding at the shore for eons, and even a seawall that costs $1000 a foot isn't going to stop it. Live and invest there if you want but don't expect anyone to bail you out when the inevitable occurs."
Well, they still expect us to.
The photo above is of a surfer's memorial service held for the landslide victims last week. That is appropriate as La Conchita is a surfer's town. One of the most famous Southern California surf spots, Rincon Point (immortalized in The Beach Boys "Surfin' USA") is 3/4 mile away.
1 comment:
The West Hills of Portland, OR, are similarly unstable and inclined to slide. When I was working for the geoengineers who were supposed to be gatekeepers and diagnosticians of building lots, we saw some amazing things. North of us in Washington, a whole neighborhood came down the hill -- slowly, slowly, and then a big shambles at the end.
The West Hills are elegant places to live and so there have been houses built up there that might have been relatively stable at one time, but as others build below and as roads and vibrations from contruction continue to intrude, some of them are even half-hanging over new cliffs. One was teetering so precariously that even though it contained priceless antiques, no one was too dangerous to go inside to fetch them for fear of tipping the house over the edge.
The reaction of the City of Portland was to forbid any geoengineers or Bureau of Buildings personnel to visit the premises -- even to red tag -- for fear of the owners of the house somehow holding the City responsible and suing them.
I left before it was all resolved. The guys I worked with snuck by, of course, and were trying among themselves to imagine how a rescue would proceed. A net over the house with helicopters and bulldozers pulling it back to safety? Who would insure such a thing?
Prairie Mary
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