Here's How To Detect Signs That A Landslide Or Flood Is Imminent

With two storms now arriving in Southern California, residents in coastal erosion prone areas should take extra precautions to avoid potential landslides and flooding, experts say.

For those living on the bluff

Narrowing of the beaches means breaking waves are now closer to the shoreline, and when combined with big storm events where rainfall soaks into the bluffs, it can result in a landslide, said Joseph Street, manager of the California Coastal Commission's Energy Ocean Resources and Federal Consistency Unit.

“During stormy periods, you tend to have more erosion and more of these catastrophic events, like bluff failures,” he said. “Rise in sea level that has occurred historically and is expected by most scientific projections to increase and accelerate in the future and that would be expected to exacerbate these types of storm related coastal erosion events.”

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If you live on the top of a bluff, Street said, “check out the seaward side and look for things like gullies forming from runoff, look for cracks in the ground, look for signs of active erosion.”

Street also advised checking if drainage systems, including roof gutters, downspouts and on the ground drainage are clear.

Suzie Whitelaw, president of the nonprofit Save Our Beaches San Clemente, said this is because landslides thrive on water.

“Any way that you can keep water off of your hillside, away from any area that looks like it might be unstable, do it,” she said. “If you think that your hillside or your bluff appears to be unstable, I would call the city's Department of Public Works and have them come out.”

Retaining walls inside and outside your home should be checked for bulges and cracks before and after a storm. Check outdoor sloped areas for signs of erosion, like cracks on the ground. All of these could indicate ground movement.

For those living in low-lying coastal areas

“Coastal erosion in low lying areas is very linked to the flooding and the large waves that cause the flooding, you know, those same waves have a tendency to erode the material along the shoreline,” Street said. “Large waves will carry a lot of the sand offshore, at least temporarily. And when that happens, you kind of lose your buffer between the shoreline and developed areas and infrastructure.”

Residents along the shore should tie down furniture and remove loose objects from yards and create temporary sandbag berms around their homes.

Sandbags are available at all Los Angeles Fire Department locations. Sand is also available at select other locations, and updates on availability can be checked here.

Los Angeles County Fire Department locations also have sandbags and sand.

Sand and sandbags are available at these locations in Orange County.

The National Weather Service has a flood watch in effect for Orange County’s coastal areas starting Thursday morning through Friday morning. Monitor emergency alerts for flood warnings. Make sure you also have an emergency bag packed and ready with non-perishable food, water, medicine, raincoats or umbrellas and first aid supplies in case you need to evacuate.

Other ways to prepare

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has these tips in case of a power outage:

• Have flashlights and spare batteries ready
• Charge your cellphone and a power bank in case of an outage
• If the power does go off, turn off light switches except for one to know when the power comes back on
• Do not open refrigerator doors in the event of a power outage so food is preserved longer
• To check for outage information, call (800) 342-5397 or visit www.ladwp.com/outages