Posted on 06/01/2005 8:55:57 AM PDT by Howlin
LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. - A landslide sent at least five expensive homes crashing down a hill Wednesday and may have damaged many others.
Fire department personnel had no estimate of the damage, and there was no immediate word on whether there were any injuries.
Television helicopter footage showed smashed homes on heavily built-up Flamingo Road. The earth was still moving beneath the homes. Some fell nearly intact, while others were ripped apart and left trails of debris.
The steep coastal area has had slide problems before and several homes were "red-tagged" as uninhabitable in February, during the second rainiest season on record in Southern California.
Laguna Beach is about 50 miles southeast of Los Angeles.
From FOX
They've had 27 inches of rain over the winter/spring...they normally get 13 inches of rain.
Rules to live by...don't build in a flood plain, don't build on the side of a hill...
Wouldn't you think that the environmentally conscious Californians would know better to damage the fragile geo-ecosystems in those areas? Digging holes for concrete foundations disturbs the gentle Mother-Earth "Gaia" and she had schmooked down the usurpers of her gentle hills...
Well?
G
Money talks.
Just wait till Catalina has a brush fire that would be fun
LOS ANGELES -- Laguna Beach residents who lost their homes in Wednesday's landslide may have few options when trying to recoup their losses, a USC law professor said.
George Lefcoe, who specializes in real estate law, said the government has little responsibility when people choose to live in a geographically hazardous area.
"If the government had gone into an area to undermine the hill and that's why it collapsed, then the government will have a problem," he said. "If they didn't actually transform the condition and worsen it -- we are not a 'nanny' state. We couldn't be because the government couldn't function. They just could not cover these random risks."
And the chances of moving to an area in California without potential geographic hazards is slim to none, he said.
"If you take flood, fire and earthquake -- that will pretty much do it for California," he said, adding that all of the properties in the most desirable areas with ocean views or in the hills are vulnerable.
Lefcoe said a homeseller, by law, must provide a natural hazard disclosure form, which details and maps out potential hazards in the area.
If a seller fails to provide a report or supplies a poorly prepared one, then it's highly likely the seller and the broker that put together the flawed report will be sued, Lefcoe said. Lefcoe said homeowners should make sure a natural hazard disclosure report is prepared by a reputable provider, and read it, because not all disasters are the same.
He called the Laguna Beach landslide "an unusual calamity" because often times when a natural disaster occurs, homeowners lose their house but keep the land, which is a more expensive commodity.
"In a sense, when you're looking at the natural hazards, they're not all alike," he said. "You might lose a quarter of your investment, but not all of it."
He also said potential homebuyers should know, when choosing a house on a hill, that the farther away it is from the beach, the more stable the ground will be.
"All of the hills are basically sand mountains," he said. "The hills closest to the beach are most recently formed."
The Hollywood Hills, for example, are more stable than the Malibu Hills because the ground has had "a longer time to firm up," he said.
Laguna Beach police estimate that 15 to 18 expensive homes were destroyed in the slide in the Bluebird Canyon area of Flamingo Road and Bluebird Canyon Road, near Pacific Coast Highway. Bluebird Canyon -- where many homes are valued at more than $2 million -- was also the site of a devastating 1978 landslide that claimed more than two dozen homes on another part of the hillside.
There's another press briefing from Laguna Beach scheduled for 5 p.m. but I won't be here. If anyone catches it, please post an update.
They are renaming the town Laguna Conchita
Florida had a natural disaster. These folks built themselves a hill to put a house on....a hill that slid before. Duh, it might slide again, and how many of them will go right back and build again on top of a few more loads of dirt they can haul in?
BY THE NUMBERS
people evacuated about 1,000
homes evacuated 345
homes damaged 11
homes destroyed 7
How many homes destroyed: 7
• 925 Oriole Road
• 1025 Flamingo Road
• 1033 Flamingo Road
• 1044 Flamingo Road
• 1054 Flamingo Road
• 1059 Flamingo Road
• 1071 Flamingo Road
How many homes damaged: 11
• 930 Bluebird Canyon Drive
• 960 Bluebird Canyon Drive
• 968 Bluebird Canyon Drive
• 976 Bluebird Canyon Drive
• 980 Bluebird Canyon Drive
• 994 Bluebird Canyon Drive
• 1045 Flamingo Road
• 1060 Flamingo Road
• 1087 Flamingo Road
• 1015 Flamingo Road
• 919 Oriole Drive
How many homes are threatened: 3 more homes were in danger of falling.
• 1005 Madison Place
• 1015 Madison Place
• 1031 Madison Place
How many people injured: 4 people hurt; two treated at scene, two taken to a local hospital with minor injuries. No deaths or major injuries reported.
How old are the homes: 2 years and older
How much do the homes cost: between $1.5 and $2.5 million each
Maybe it does, but it is crying now.
Anyone building in those areas or buying in those areas fully knows the risk, but more than likely didn't face the reality.
In most cases, they couldn't get insurance for landslides at all and all this will be paid for with their own money to repair or move out.
I think they will not be allowed to live there again, but at least that level of person can buy another house of some kind fairly easy.
You might have an old couple or two in there with limited funds, but you might have to define limited as over 3 million dollars in the bank.
Incorrect. Florida can sometimes has annual natural disasters, in the form of hurricane's. Sometimes more than one a season. And it doesn't just affect a small neighborhood, it affects very large regions.
Duh, it might slide again, and how many of them will go right back and build again on top of a few more loads of dirt they can haul in?
If they will insure it, they will build. However this specific, localized area maybe a problem. Remember, there are hundreds of thousands of homes on hills up and down the California coast, where homes have been for many many years with no problems. Unlike regions like Florida, that can be hit multiple times a year, with devastating results.
Well, the rebuilds did last 26 years. I guess that tells the bank to stick to 25 years mortgages. *g*
Why do lefty scum get such a kick out of seeing successful people suffer tragedies?
" Something about people putting all their money on unstable bluffs "
I knew those coastal hill side and cliff side clinging homes were too risky especailly after doing a little rock climbing there. Every time I grabbed onto a piece of small rock ledge it would break off in my hand. Was scary trying to come down. My legs felt like rubber bands afterwards from shaking so bad. LOL
I agree -- I used to keep all the important papers in one downstairs closet in case we had to evacuate -- loved the area but didn't like that part of it. Somehow watching the firefighting planes drop their chemicals while sitting on the back patio didn't make me feel very safe.
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