SATURATED SOIL POSES INCREASED POTENTIAL FOR LANDSLIDES
ksl.com
Bob Odom is used to seeing a little bit more damage each year as a landslide carries his neighborhood a little bit further downhill. But this year the pace has slightly increased.
“It’s little bit more than normal,” Odom said, standing in a street that once was straight but is now bent and broken by a seemingly unstoppable force tearing his neighborhood apart.
The landslide typically moves at a pace of a few inches a year. This winter, geologic measurements show that it sped up a bit. Though it’s not a huge increase, it’s enough to serve as a warning of other potentially troublesome landslide activity around the state.
Geologists believe the slight speed-up is due to an unusual amount of water that entered the soil during wet weather in November and December.
