The media pundit's pundit. Written by NYC insider Jeff Jarvis, BuzzMachine covers news, media, journalism, and politics.
Location, location
: Doc gets an amazing picture of the sliding hills of La Conchita.
Man, recent lessons teach me not to live (1) on any coastline, (2) near any hill that can turn into mud, (3) near any hill that can spawn an avalanche.
Makes deepest, darkest New Jersey look damned good, I’ll tell you.
Come to Florida, at least we know when the hurricanes are coming…
wow, what an amazing picture.
>>> Makes deepest, darkest New Jersey look
>>> damned good, I’ll tell you.
wait… i thought you were a new yorker. no?
GET YOUR TITS OUT, JEFF!
People around here tend to overlook the fact southern California along the coast is largely sandstone. There’s good granite bedrock further inland, but that’s not the coast (yet).
Some years back the rail line in San Diego County got moved back a few hundred yards. Moved the tracks away from the beach, where they had run. The Southern Pacific tried doing the same in Orange county, but the city fathers for San Clemente declared they would not agree to the adjustment, because it would mean moving the San Clemente train station away from its scenic spot on the beach. So when the last series of storms came, and a San Clemente cliff along the beach gave way, a section of track was covered disrupting rail travel between Orange and San Diego Counties.
And it could have been worse.
How so, Uncle Mythusmage? ( :) )
We were supposed to get big, honkin’ waves. Well, big for southern California. 12 foot waves on top of a 7 foot tide. Serious property damage in beach side communities and mandatory evacuations. May even have been some fatalities. So we got lucky there.
On the other hand, there is no way we’re going to get a hurricane here. Water’s too cold. :D
Follow Up:
Saw the picture. One thing I noticed was how small the landslide was. Only a part of the hill gave way. We lost 10 people to a small landslide. If the whole hillside had given way we would’ve lost a lot more. Possibly in the hundreds.
Whoever okayed residential construction in the area deserves residence in the circle of Hell reserved for bad counselors.
Amazing picture! Notice also how straight the base of the hill is. I read somewhere that the level area at the base was actually created by the railroad so the railroad tracks running closer to the shore would be protected from landslides. Which makes it even more insane that people would build houses there.
You forgot to add living beneath an active volcano, such as the village on the Big Island that is no more.
Those hills have been there for a million years. How come they haven’t already fallen down?
This article doesn’t make Jersey look all that good–no free speech where this family was concerned. And we worry about the FCC restricting speech. Sheesh.
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/38704.htm
Richard, Leslie’s right: the railroad cut back the hillside, past its normal angle of repose.
Besides, natural erosion often acts in fits and starts. The question is: will it happen now or 50 years from now?