Laguna Slide photos

[Mark Singer]

I just took these from my pool area....it gives you a small idea of this tradgedy

[Tyler Howell]

Ouch!!:eek: Glad you're OK!

[Randy Moore]

I think I will stay here and put up with the tornados and "Dorthy" in the Land of Oz.


Again Mark I am glad that you are ok!
Randy

[Michael Perata]

Mark

Looking at the top right photo it looks as if the problem is a clayey loam vertically against a sandy layer.

If that's the cse, definitely a recipe for a slide. :(

[Roy Wall]

Mark,

So sorry about all this - your neighbors and friends......prayers are with you all...

Glad you are OK.........

[John Hart]

I also checked all the news websites for their photo essays. Amazing that no one was hurt.

[Greg Heppeard]

Looks like you got the good side of the hill. Glad you're ok, Mark.

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Mark,

Once again, glad you are okay! I hope that all of your friends get through this okay! I am sure this is not the scenery you would prefer to see!

[John Shuk]

Mother nature is a tough old gal! Glad no body lost a life. I can't imagine losing a home completely though.

[Glenn Clabo]

Yipes! That's too close Mark. It saddens me to see these pictures and hear the stories. It really must hurt you to see it and experience it with real life friends.

[Gary Max]

They where talking --on the news---about how some of these homes should of never been built on sandstone. Glad you made it through this safely--- just think of the clean-up from a mess like this.

[Bob Hovde]

Glad you're safe, Mark! That's way too close.

Sandstone, Gary? The sides of the hills in So. Cal. aren't even sandstone most places - just dirt. You need pilings to get down to something solid - and they don't always do that. I saw the same thing happen in San Diego in 1959 - we have to keep learning the same laws of nature. (I always wondered what the insurance pays for when the lot disappears along with the house??)

Bob

[Dennis Peacock]

Glad to know your safe Mark.!!!!! I think I'll stay right here next to Oklahoma and put up with torny-naders and the heat of the summer. Prays to all those family and neighbors.

[Joe Mioux]

Hi Mark:
Thanks for the update. Glad to hear and see you and your home are all intact.

Joe

[Jon Olson]

Saw the news reports last night and was wondering where you were in relation. Glad to hear you're out of harms way....but are they testing your hillside for slide prone ness??

Jon

[Mark Singer]

I imagine all the local geologists are testing and studing the slide. This should not be a real surprise since there was a slide in 1978 which involved 60 homes. The Bluebird canyon area is known to have geotechnical problems. The people that lived should be well aware of the potential danger. I saw a guy on the news yesterday blaming the city for allowing new homes to be built.....this is rediculous...it would have slid if there were no homes on it! It is mostly 40 to 50 year old homes and only a couple of new ones which really could not have caused the entire hill to slide. In 1978 the slide occurred after a heavy winter also. My home and the one I am building are in solid Brecia which is a very solid bedrock. In Potifino area where we are located there has never been one single house lost to geotechnical reasons. The geotechnical conditions are much different here as well as other parts of Laguna.
Saw the news reports last night and was wondering where you were in relation. Glad to hear you're out of harms way....but are they testing your hillside for slide prone ness??

Jon

[Pete Lamberty]

I saw the news photos also. This is just amazing! I live on flat flat ground just west of Chicago. There isn't a hill in sight. We couldn't slide any where. I am glad that no one was injured and I hope that these people come out of this okay. It has to be a real emotional upheaval.

[Chris Padilla]

I saw a guy on the news yesterday blaming the city for allowing new homes to be built.....this is rediculous...it would have slid if there were no homes on it! In Potifino area where we are located there has never been one single house lost to geotechnical reasons. The geotechnical conditions are much different here as well as other parts of Laguna.

Well of course the city is too be blamed! They want the property taxes from the land don't they? If the land is going to slide, let it slide...just don't build homes on it or in the path. If they are built in the pathway, then measures for stability or protection of the residences should be under consideration. Perhaps 50 years ago, the technology wasn't there to determine the stability of the land but it exists right now.

Further, insurance should be made available for this type of event. We have earthquake insurance, flood insurance. I was made well-aware of eq and flood when I bought my house. Why don't we have "landslide" insurance as well?

[Ken Garlock]

Mark, I was going to say that you were a lucky fellow. But after reading your follow-up post, I think that you are just a smart fellow having worked out the soil problem ahead of building. :cool:

It is certainly a shame that the slide occurred and people lost their homes. On the other hand, I will bet that not a single one of them had a gun held to their heads when buying there. Each person is responsible for their own actions. Learn and move on....

[Jim Stastny]

Mark,

Glad to see you and all your neighbors made it through the slide. This a.m. Good Morning America interviewed a woman who with her 4 year old and 1 year old escape her home. It's in your first photo on the right hand side, about center, horizontally. Just listening to her story gave me chills. Imagine trying to save your family when you're not even sure what's going on!!!!

[Rob Russell]

Further, insurance should be made available for this type of event. We have earthquake insurance, flood insurance. I was made well-aware of eq and flood when I bought my house. Why don't we have "landslide" insurance as well?

The only way you'd see "landslide" insurance is if the government underwrote it, similar to flood insurance. Even then, it's such a small group of people with high exposure that the premiums would likely be high.

The reason commercial insurers won't write it because of what's called "adverse selection"[AS], similar to why we won't write flood insurance (without the government program). AS is when the only people who buy insurance are those who need it. Think of flood insurance - the people who buy it live in flood plains where the overall risk of flood is high, so the exposures can be highly concentrated. It almost gets to that point with some insurers and hurricane insurance in Florida where they are overexposed.

[Mike Wilkins]

Sure hope no one was hurt.
As an insurance adjuster, I sure hope each home owner was covered adequately with enough coverage to build somewhere else. These are not inexpensive homes, and the thought of losing one and not having enough
coverage to build again is scary. Seen it too many times.
I think I will stay in Eastern North Carolina; all we have to put up with is an
occasional hurricane.

[Chris Padilla]

The only way you'd see "landslide" insurance is if the government underwrote it, similar to flood insurance. Even then, it's such a small group of people with high exposure that the premiums would likely be high.

Gotcha! :) Thanks for the education!