Concerning the massive mud slide near OSO Washington…For all
those people who have made comments about the dangers (and foolishness) of
building homes in slide areas…those people who have been SO critical.
Some of the homes were built more a hundred years ago.
The hillside that gave way was across the river and smashed
into the water far beyond, all the way to the State Highway, blocking a mile of
road, destroying many houses and killing many people.
It was never conceived that a hillside across the river could
threaten anyone.
I have fished that river many times, perhaps right there and
never saw any threat from anywhere
When an entire neighborhood is wiped out, it’s not
appropriate to make incredibly stupid judgments about others. There was never a
hint of danger in the area, aside from occasional high-water flooding from snow
melt. Big deal.
Okay, using the logic of the morons…we should never build
homes in the central United States due to the threat of tornadoes. There should
be no homes in California (earthquakes and lack of water).
People die from hurricanes, so that eliminates most of the
East Coast.
There was the dust bowl era…so the central part of the
country is out.
Of course, if global warming proceeds as most expect, New
York City is out, a lot of Florida is out…well, there are nearly countless
locations which will be under water. So…are all these places refusing to allow
building? I think not.
We can make one more leap. Our planet has been struck by
numerous meteorites, asteroids etc. over the years. Should we just say we can’t live here at
all?
The mud slide at Oso, Washington was unexpected and
unanticipated. There was record rainfall in March.
Indeed, there have been issues with clear-cutting in those hills. Not in that area, however. Deer Creek, which flows into the Oso area was decimated by poor logging techniques. Basically, the salmon and steelhead populations were wiped out as a result. That is not the case with the current disaster.
(Indeed, there were warnings back in the fifties about a possible slide across the river and, indeed, there were warnings as late as 99. There was a smaller slide at one point but some of the houses have been there a hundred years and the hillside in question was on the other side of the river.)
Okay...I've heard from many people and must revise some of my comments. Indeed, in the 1950s there were concerns raised of the potential of a slide from across the river. In 1999, there was an assessment made which determined there was the potential of a a major, catastrophic slide. Considering all this (and much more), no homes should have been built in the area after that. Of course, there were already homes built long before but no more should have been allowed after the "authorities" were made aware of the dangers. However, they were. Even with a slide in 2006, all the residents were permitted to stay.
That said, I don't really alter my position. Southern California has no water with the threat of earthquakes every day...and keeps on growing. Northern California is just waiting for the next great earthquake...and keeps on building. The central part of the US has been running out of water for a long time and has the constant threat of tornadoes...they keep on building. Low lying areas all around the country (Florida, NYC, etc.) are in imminent danger from rising sea levels. They keep on building. If I cared enough, I could summon up countless other examples of lack of "government" oversight.
In Oso, WA, there was a hillside across the river from a small neighborhood. It was not clear-cut, but, yes, looking at it, one might imagine it could give way some day. One might look the same way at our planet and think...there might be a meteor heading this way...we should never build anything just in case!
Update...It seems I was as wrong as possible in my initial comments about the Oso slide. Here'a an extensive, damning account from the Seattle Times: http://mobile.seattletimes.com/story/today/2023794966/track-ip_news_lite-1.2..2-./
