Essay on Landslides and Floods in Seattle, Washington

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Landslides can be referred to as, naturally occurring Hazards in the environment which occur as a result of a failure of the soil and rock materials which are found mainly on hilly slopes or cliffs (Daniel). As a result of this, a large mass of land falls down the slopes of a hill. This usually causes a lot of destruction to vegetation and indeed anything found on its way including human settlements.

Landslides can be caused by natural factors like earthquakes. This occurs as a result of seismic activities that are caused when plate tectonics moves, the soil that covers them also moves with it. This happens mostly on steep slopes. Heavy rainfall have also been known to cause land slides especially when the soils of the sloppy lands are without the aid of  mechanical root support, the soil simply runs off. Other causes of land slides are mainly as a result of human activities like clear cutting of timber. This destroys the soil’s mechanical root structures. Vibrations caused by blasting techniques used in mining have also been known to cause land slides.

Flooding on the other hand is a natural and inevitable process which occurs as a result rivers bursting their channels due to heavy rains and ice melting among other reasons. The excess water then flows to the flood plain which is a flat part adjacent to the river channel that has been built by a river over a long period of time. These parts are usually referred to as terraces. Flooding and landslides are usually closely related. This is because, both occur mainly as a result of heavy rainfall. To be precise, when there is heavy rain, flooding usually occurs on flat terrain type of lands. The same heavy rains causes land slides in sloppy terrain type of lands.

This brings into perspective to the main theme of this paper which is the floods and landslides that faces Seattle, Washington. Seattle which borders the North Pacific Ocean is located in areas that are much prone to disasters like flooding and even typhoons. This is due to its proximity to the sea. Seattle has faced many incidences of flooding and landslides which have caused devastating effects on humans’ settlements. For example, a weather channel in Seattle report in January 7, 2009 indicated the devastation that was witnessed when Squalicum Creek which is located in Bellingham bursted its channels from St Josephs Hospital to Bellingham Hobor causing much havoc. Incidences have also indicated that, steep hillsides that have been clear cut can be unstable and prone to mudslides. In places like Boistfort Valley and Stillman Creek, slides usually starts during the December storms. In December 2008 Staff for Te Seattle Times reported of a monster storm which had barreled from the Pacific, drenching the mountains around the Chehalis River basin and touching off hundreds of landslides. Little Creek was filled with mud and debris; the waters had turned dark like chocolate syrup. That storm alone had triggered more than 730 landslides in the upper Chehalis basin alone. According to aerial survey the mud slides dumped mud and debris into swollen rivers which helped to fuel the floods that slammed houses, bisinesses and farm fields down stream. According to geologist who did surveys to the affected areas, nearly half of the affected slopes were all deeply logged areas which were hazardous when such season approached. According to David Montgomery, a University of Washington geomorphology professor who reviewed The Seattle Times findings, the policies that were put in place to document slide prone place was inaccurate and that more survey needed to be done before coming up with such environmental prescriptions. According to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) there is supposed to no logging on unstable slopes because landslides could put public resources or public safety at risk.

Floods on the other hand have caused the people of Seattle a lot of pain and destruction. For instance, in December 2007, a devastating flood walloped Lewis County and caused damages of up to $ 57 million. Among the things that suffered immense damages were; homes, farms and businesses (Jack). A research done by Washington Forest Practices Board proved that indeed there was a direct and immediate relationship between landslides and logging. The Floods were as a result of the Chehalis River which overflowed double its previous record. For example, The Stillman Creek drainage got 8 inches of rain in 10 hours. The water that came as a result of the floods also clogged a nearby water treatment plant causing water shortages.

In order to avert such occurrences in future, there must be a clear cut laid down policy that will restrict logging in areas proven by environmentalist to be sloppy. Other things that the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to do is to ensure that trees are planted over slopes to stabilize the soil. They should also ensure that people don’t construct or build anything in areas where landslides have occurred. This is because the land is still unsafe. In addition to that, the department should ensure that they have placed early warning systems to alert people whenever there are imminent storms or even possible land slides.

On the other hand flood con be prevented from causing damages to people and property by the creation of flood plains and winding streams. Other ways of preventing floods include placing of sandbags along riverbanks. This serves as levees to block water from reaching from reaching human settlements.

In conclusion, though floods and landslides can’t be avoided due to their natural occurrences. Human beings need to come up with way to reduce their effects on their lives and properties. For places like Seattle, the state needs to finance surveying projects and document the places which have high chances of flooding and land slides. In addition to that, they should ensure that they impose strict regulations on illegal logging and human settlement to ensure that the effects of such natural calamities become a thing of the past.