As a former and future resident of Florida, I should have more sympathy than I do, I guess. But in Florida, we've learned to build houses that aren't as vulnerable as cliff-dwelling. I wouldn 't live in a trailer home in FL, but I can't see how it could possibly matter what your house is made of when you build it on a dang cliff. I don't remember a year I haven't heard of mudslides in the West.
You'd have a hard time building on a hillside in Florida!
My thoughts exactly!
You have no hills or cliffs there. And if you did, those in Florida would build on them.
And that could be said for those that live in hurricane regions, fire areas, forests, near rivers, dams, mouuntains, tornado regions, etc.
Like I told another poster, there are probably tens of thousands of homes along the Cal coast, that have been there for many, many years, and only a small fraction have ever experienced an event like this. Unlike Florida for example, where hurricane's that almost occur annually affect large portions of the state.
Next time we see tornado's ripping through towns, like they do every year, in the Mid West, shall we not offer any sympathy? Should we point fingers at them and call them idiots? Should our sympathy be limited to specific areas, and only to specific natural disasters?