Catastrophic Landslide in California: Can We Stop the Unstoppable?
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- Опубликовано: 16 июн 2024
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Landslides occur in mountainous areas all over the world. One of the most devastating in US history struck on January 9, 2018, when 1,000,000 cubic tons of mud, boulders, and uprooted trees barreled into the sleeping town of Montecito, CA, claiming 23 lives and causing around $1 billion in damage. But as shocking as this event was, it was not an anomaly. They occur in every US state, killing dozens and costing around $4 billion each year. And the hazard is growing as we increasingly build in risky areas and climate change makes triggering events, like fire and heavy rain, more common.
For this episode of Weathered, we traveled to Montecito to speak with experts and survivors about what they’ve learned following the tragedy as well as the lessons we can all apply to be more prepared for these common hazards.
Weathered is a show hosted by meteorologist Maiya May and produced by Balance Media that helps explain the most common natural disasters, what causes them, how they’re changing, and what we can do to prepare.
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*_TIP:_* - Before buying property; for your own protection, it's essential to check the geology of the area. Does it flood, does it have landslides? Buying into a flood prone means your home insurance is not covered for flood (the logic being, "If you're silly enough to do that, then you deserve what you get" says insurance companies). As much as you love that house, just remember. You worked hard to get into the position to buy a house. Flood prone areas don't mean flood might happen. It means floods happen, you just don't know when. At least with a flood you still have land, but in a land slide, you lose that too. Be smart, dig into the history of your area in the local library. Talk to experts! It will pay off in the long run!
Education is key
NFIP - National Flood Insurance Program. You don't have flood insurance, unless and until you buy _flood insurance._ Your standard home owners policy is not flood insurance. Too many people have lost everything they have because of this oversight.
Contract with an independent geologist to inspect the area as the one the developers hired was likely under pressure to say yes to everything.
Less "you deserve it" and more "we aren't going to raise premiums for everyone because you want to live in a high risk area"
Every place floods at some point.
Really enjoying this Weathered series
Hey Blad! Glad you’re enjoying it ☺️
@@maiyamay_ It's great! I love watching californians get destroyed by the poor forestry they keep voting for. It's beautiful.
Rebuilding in the same exact area after HEAPS of data about how those places are unfit for structures is the real problem here
Developers are real bloodsuckers.
Unfortunately, that would make a great deal of CA "unfit".
Lots of crooked geologists willing to say yes to any project for a price.
That was horrifying.
The speed and ferocity was awful to witness.
It's almost unthinkable that a boulder the size of an SUV could flatten your home after 1/2" of rain.
My grandmother lives in montecito, thankfully her house was spared but it demolished a bunch of the homes around her. Driving through her neighborhood afterwards was pretty horrifying
0:15 Another landslide in Norway last week killed at least 10 people, in one swipe. 🥺😟 We should all learn from that
I'm really glad you guys are making longer, more in depth videos about these topics! I had no idea that this had happened, but it's very interesting (and scary)...
So happy you’re enjoying the show. And yes, I agree. Pretty frightening stuff 😰
The animations explaining the landslides are excellent! Thank you for such good quality and effort in your videos!
🙌🏽
This does a great job raising awareness. Another great episode.
PS: RUclips didn't recommend this on my home page :( . Turning notifications on from now on
"Contact a geologist to dig deeper." - ok, that was funny.
😆
@@maiyamay_Ah, HAH! The first post by someone on the production team! I'm going to subscribe, so please get in touch via email if your interested in my observations in private before I post them.
Wow. Another great Weathered episode. Maiya was terrific, the script perfect, the camera and audio work beyond outstanding. However, the top kudos on this one go to the editors and music. I can't imagine how many video frames landed on the cutting room floor, but the ones that were kept were ideal. Well done! Even more than this, the music somehow made the disasters endurable, to help me stay to the end, to get the message: Learn what you have got to learn, do what you have got to do, and you'll be OK. Thanks!
Great video series - really enjoying these deep dives and the interviews with local experts and scientists. Thank you PBS Terra!
🥰🙌🏽
this series & the host are amazing 🥰
Thank you! Glad you’re enjoying the series 🙌🏽
Well, we just had another atmospheric river and we woke up to a downpour at roughly the same time (4:30 am), of 1/9/17 debris flow. We don't live in that area but just about 5 miles down the road. It was an unsettling feeling and I immediately thought of all the folks living in Montecito and the trauma they must have had during that event. I also wondered how many other people woke up a 4;30 am this morning to the deluge. The huge boulders all over the area remind us every time we drive by. RIP all of those who were lost, and comfort to those who miss them.
Places that were once considered unsafe for homes got developed over time. It's like that all over CA, probably the world. People just wanna live next to the mountains.
Hopefully people will see videos like this and realize the mindset of "those mountains are pretty" should really be "those mountains are terrifying"
Mountains have land slides. Valleys flood. No where is safe from water damage in an event of heavy rains.
Coastal Oregon is just now preparing for the inevitable tsunami that will hit it.
WOW! That was intense. When you don't live near this stuff, it's crazy what you don't know. Thank y'all for putting this together. And OMG what was up with that whole house/yard moving. "Congratulations Mr. Johnson, you have a whole new property. Sadly, in two years it'll all sink into the ocean." We just have to deal with Snowpocalypses in the Southeast of the US. Now any time I see tilted trees and big cracks in roads/buildings I'll be all "RUN!!!"
The video is excellent. Maiya is really good as a host too.
Thank you queen! 🙌🏽
My family almost bought a hillside property to ranch alpacas. Then we got the geological survey results back and scrapped the plan because it was something like a couple hundred feet of clay on top of limestone. One of the best California recipes for landslides
That clip of the car driving right at the front of the flood is one of the most anxiety-inducing things I've seen.
One of the best hosts ever! Thanks :)
Love the content you guys put out! Maiya May is a great storyteller.
Thank you! 🥰
Good job PBS Terra! Thanks for this carefully researched video and for helping keep people safe!
Great video. Great host. Thank you!
No, thank YOU 🙏🏽
Awesome video. Liked n shared cause this is important info.
Thanks!
@@ElementalWildfire Yes, some VERY GOOD information. However, some of the fine points set off my detector. If I can find an email, I'll send a private email--if I don't have to read thousands of words in legalese in "privacy statements" etc.
Excellent!!!
Nope. The answer IS NO. No matter what kind of power and money humans have to make giant super structures, eventually it will colapse because of degradation.
This is so interesting episode
Thank you for pointing out that the evacuation zones were the issue and not necessarily the people. Most people evacuated, even in the voluntary area. We KNOW what comes after major wild fires. This wasn't our first Rodeo, but it was our first MAJOR slide on this type of scale, simply because the Fire was so insane. I'm sad for the people who lost their life in the flow, but I'll always be grateful for how small that number was... because it could have been MUCH worse.
It's always head scratching after a big wildfire season that people are surprised that there is a mudslide a month later when it rains, like it doesn't happen every time.
Wow that man just saved a dude and his parents, Rad!
I grew up in the west part of Texas, out in the desert, and so flash floods were really very common for us at certain times of year. Prairie thunderstorms aren't frequent but when they decide to dump buckets of rain - every little creek and arroyo and gorge fills up and so do the streets. Wadley Avenue in my town was the number one indicator of how heavy a storm was: for whatever reason, that one street always became like a river, filling up with water all the way to the curbs, and if the water went OVER the curb? It was time to get really worried.
But never did we have landslides, because we were fortunate enough to be in that part of the Permian Basin area that's flat as a pancake.
The footage at the beginning of this... the SOUND that flow made. That's the most terrifying sound I've ever heard in my life, worse even than the noise of an approaching tornado.
Here's hoping that science can someday help us plan for these sorts of events, and better yet, find ways to mitigate or prevent them...
there is an old landscape modification technique called berm-and-swale-on-contour. It was used back in the WPA era dủring the Great Depression in Arizon or New Mexico to very good avail. It slowed the downward flow of rainfall and the water soaked into the ground. They are still functioning á planned and has actually lead to greater water retention on the upper slope allowing a greater variety of plant material to develop.
There are a series of five reservoirs in the mountains above Montecito with connector water tunnels.
The initial landslide dug out some river crossings 20 feet deep, which took out the water tunnels between the reservoirs.
This is why you see the initial six inches of mud coming down the street, followed by the six foot torrent unleashed from the draining reservoirs.
I actually heard the mudflow that night, the sound of house size boulders clacking together is something I'll never forget.
It wasn't just the rain storm though.
Most of that destruction and loss of life was from another man made engineering failure.
That being said...
Much love!
I was there when this happened. We were on the other side of the freeway on San Isidro.
THIS - Really explains It Well; especially for a 'thicko' like Me!
Really good video, super interesting topic and good explanations. The host seems to be a bit out of focus though
Am I the only one that thinks adding some sort of alarm thats triggered when the net gets stretched out would be a good idea?
Here before the debris flows happens in the SF Bay Area next week from the stalled AR 1/24/21
Let’s be careful out there, folks.
7:10 Excuse me, where does this take place?
another reason to respect the power of nature.
That house at the beginning became beachfront property.
What goes up must come down
Geologists❤️
I see everywhere in the world, except Canada 🇨🇦, get these things.
Mountain got to slip.
Here in UK we get bare mountains by covering them in sheep
Paid for by the Monticeto Realtors Association. /jk
Close the Door🤣
Instead of trying to stop the natural flow, stop building in the paths of the mudslides. Wouldn't that make more sense?
erosion, deforestation, urban developments, and a long list of human interferences
I have to say its common knowledge to NOT build/ buy a house in the same place where a forest fire destroyed everything. Soil damage, no trees no roots, grass shrubs. The builder had no conscious. 10 yrs in the future the land will be rebuilt on and tragedy will follow.
Maybe municipal leaders should not allow building in high risk areas...
Nah. Too logical.
Clearly the solution is triangle shaped homes which deflect the mudslide around the home.
Better yet, don't build there.
A severe debris flow is not something that any regular house can restrain. Depending on the size of flowing rocks and the steepness of the slope, they can reach even 160 kmh. Good luck to your triangle walls
@@b0b0l3 i was being sarcastic
After a while no one remembers why you shouldn't build there and opportunistic developers will sue to change the regs or pressure conservative politicians to reverse them. BTW... I live in Santa Barbara and had a friend who lived on slightly higher ground right next to the Montecito debris flow.
@@b0b0l3 r/whooosh
Why do we never learn?
Why do we shut our eyes to truth?
Why ask why...?
Collectively we want to take shortcuts, we don't want to remember the hard stuff and pretend it can never happen to "us". Individuals can warn us of the dangers but the herd ignores them. Human nature, bud.
2
Nature is trying to tell you, DON'T LIVE HERE.
Stupid is as stupid does I suppose.
There's really nowhere you can live that is safe from all natural disasters. Earthquake, tornado, fire, flood, hurricane, or whatever else.
Gobeltygook
I liked it but you don't mention anything at all about global warming making this even worse. It's almost as if you're trying to say "this is all just normal, so prepare!". Still 👍
Americans with their wooden homes, fast and cheap to build but i really want to know what a strong brick building can do vs such a thing
Check out the boulders . . .
"No cultureal memory of what happened" -- HMMM WHAT CULTURE WAS HERE 1,000 YEARS AGO, HMMM
Chumash?
Why would you have a meteorologist talk about geology? Boy the media is getting sad.
ITS VERRY SELF EXPLANATORY WHAT A LAND SLIDE IS .. WHY IS THIS VIDEO 10 MINUETS
Cue the cheerful music. We're going to rebuild in the same area! We're happy now! What a stupid video.
If we could stop it than it wouldn't be unstoppable. What an asinine clickbait title.
The title is fine, it's a question, re-watch and learn. They answer the question and it's no they can't but, their trying to slow it down and have better evaluation plans