[californiadisasters] California & Building / Re-Building Guidelines

Question, more on the mitigation side than emergency management side –

 

California has strict earthquake standards, but what are they doing about existing homes, new homes, or rebuilds in areas that are prone to mudslides / landslides? Are they requiring owner, builders to install better drainage systems, stronger retaining structures, etc. for areas prone to mudslides?

 

It seems to me that So. Cal has so many desirable locations to build, re-build on, e.g. hillsides, coastal property that has a tendency to collapse or fall prey to landslides/mudslides/rock slides, etc. every so often.  I am not sure of the frequency of these events, but if memory serves me right, slides seem to happen very often, yet people continue to build and move to areas prone to these events.

 

If memory serves me right, these slides are caused by one of the below or a combination of factors:

 

a.       Shifting of terrain due to earthquakes or other geologic activity,

b.      Denuded terrain caused by forest fires,  started by Mother Nature and human engineering

c.       Periods of intense heat followed by prolonged or sudden intense rainfall / melting of snow in the mountains

 

 

 

Mark Lewack

Emergency Actions Coordinator

U.S. Office of Personnel Management

1900 E Street NW, Suite 1300

Washington, DC 20415

(202) 606-5415 (Office)

(301) 807-8943 (Cell #2)

Mark.Lewack@opm.gov

 

From: californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com [mailto:californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Kim Noyes
Sent: Monday, November 14, 2011 2:14 PM
To: CaliforniaDisasters
Subject: [californiadisasters] Fire-Ravaged Malibu Church Breaks Ground For New Sanctuary

 

 

Four years ago, a brush fire burned down Malibu Presbyterian Church. The new building will showcase the view of the beach and 'have a contemporary and casual feel,' the architect says.

By Bob Pool, Los Angeles Times

November 14, 2011

If members of Malibu Presbyterian Church needed any inspiration, it was in plain sight Sunday when the Rev. Greg Hughes stepped to the front of the congregation's temporary sanctuary.

At his feet lay the twisted, blackened spire that topped the church's steeple when a brush fire engulfed the Malibu Canyon Road church Oct. 21, 2007, and burned it to the ground.

"It's like it was yesterday. I can taste ash in my mouth," Hughes told a crowd of 450 gathered to give thanks for the 63-year-old congregation's survival and to break ground for a new sanctuary.

Hughes had been at the church preparing for that day's Sunday services when the fire swept over its hillside site. He and colleagues were able to remove important documents and computers before blowing embers ignited the church steeple.

The blaze, dubbed the Canyon fire, destroyed 21 other structures as it raced over 4,500 acres.

<SNIP>

View entire article here: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-malibu-church-20111114,0,454129.story

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