Professor Brad Johnson in Washington Post: Development in North Carolina Mountains Ignores Landslide Hazard

September 21, 2018

In a recent 鈥淲ashington Post鈥 story, Brad Johnson, associate professor and department chair of environmental studies, warned that aggressive development in the North Carolina mountains could exacerbate the threat of landslides.

Over the past half-century, more people have moved to the mountains, pushing into areas that are particularly vulnerable to landslides. The threat is easy to ignore until storm systems like Hurricane Florence move over the Blue Ridge.

鈥淲hen you buy a place up in the mountains, someone comes and inspects the well and the chimney and there鈥檚 a home inspection, but no one hires a professional geologist to look at edge-slope stability,鈥 Johnson said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just not part of the buying process, and realtors aren鈥檛 even thinking about it.鈥

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