"L.A. saw 592 slides in one week, a reminder that excessive precipitation events set off more than flooding."
"Picture the minute hand at about eight past the hour. That’s the slope of Viet’s backyard in southern Los Angeles County. It’s a bit too aggressive for a slip-and-slide. In fact, Viet doesn’t even let his 7-year-old daughter play on the family’s small back patio.
“I don’t need her falling down that hill,” he said.
When Viet and his wife bought their house-on-a-hill five years ago, it was a win, their piece of “the Hollywood Riviera,” as real estate agents like to call the area. (A self-employed marketer in his 40s, Viet asked that his last name not be used to protect his family’s privacy.)
Viet’s street runs horizontally across a huge incline that begins the Palos Verdes Peninsula, a marvel of steep cliffs and Mediterranean-style homes at the south hook of Santa Monica Bay. If you squint, it could be the terraced hills of Tuscany or, indeed, a stretch of the Côte d’Azur. The address was a solid investment and housing insurance not a problem, even though parts of the peninsula have been known to shape-shift, cracking roads and knocking houses off foundations. But not every day. The family enjoyed some easy SoCal years on their perch with its great views and gentle, dry climate."
Audrey Gray reports for Inside Climate News February 20, 2024.
SEE ALSO:
"‘They Just Can’t Take This Kind Of Beating’: California Mansions On The Brink" (Washington Post)
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