When Stevie Nicks wrote the words “I saw my reflection in the snow-covered hills, till the landslide brought me down,” she could have been thinking about Santa Cruz. The Sentinel reports that ccording to the California Geological Survey, the county has one of the highest risks of landslides in all of Northern California. Says State Supervising Engineering Geologist Chris Wills, “Santa Cruz stands out even within the Bay Area because it has higher mountains, steeper slopes, and it has weaker rocks.”
When Stevie Nicks wrote the words “I saw my reflection in the snow-covered hills, till the landslide brought me down,” she could have been thinking about Santa Cruz. The Sentinel reports that ccording to the California Geological Survey, the county has one of the highest risks of landslides in all of Northern California. Says State Supervising Engineering Geologist Chris Wills, “Santa Cruz stands out even within the Bay Area because it has higher mountains, steeper slopes, and it has weaker rocks.”The most disconcerting part of that statement is that Wills admits that it does not take other factors into account, such as the weather. The torrential rains that the county experienced this winter only exacerbate the risk of landslides and could raise the county’s ranking. So could forest fires and earthquakes, neither of which are strangers to the county.
Paul Horvat, the county’s manager of emergency services, says that he is aware of the risks and that the county takes appropriate measures to protect the local population. There are meetings with residents to explain the dangers to them and warnings are sent out when warranted, he explained. The county also conducts its own survey of the Santa Cruz Mountains, especially after extensive forest fires.
Horvat adds that landslides are not as difficult to predict as earthquakes. “A lot of my knowledge is based on past events and experience in the area,” he told the Sentinel. And while landslides could affect homes, the region of the county that is most at risk is the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park in Aptos, epicenter of the Loma Prieta earthquake. While popular with hikers, the park is unpopulated. Read more at the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
