Before a landslide, you should take several important steps to protect yourself, your family, and your property:
- Build an emergency kit with essentials such as drinking water, food, cash, a portable radio, and items specific to your family's needs like medications, baby supplies, or pet food
- Make a household emergency plan that includes evacuation routes, meeting places, and provisions for pets. Practice drills with your family to ensure everyone knows what to do
- Stay informed by signing up for community warning systems, monitoring local news, weather reports, and emergency alerts such as the Emergency Alert System (EAS) or NOAA Weather Radio
- Learn to recognize early warning signs of landslides, including cracks or bulges in slopes, unusual water seepage, small rockfalls, changes in stream flow, and structural shifts in buildings or roads
- Avoid activities that increase slope instability , such as undercutting steep banks, building near the top or base of slopes, placing fill on slopes, or increasing water flow down slopes by draining pools or other means
- Prepare your home and property by planting ground cover to stabilize soil, building retaining walls, and consulting professionals for assessments and preventative measures like flexible pipe fittings
- Be alert during storms or rapid snowmelt , especially at night, as many landslide deaths occur while people are sleeping. Stay awake and monitor conditions closely
- If you live in a landslide-prone area , limit time spent in vulnerable zones during heavy rain or rapid snowmelt and never stop your vehicle in marked landslide zones
- Know who to contact (local emergency services or municipal officials) if you observe signs of an imminent landslide
By following these steps, you can significantly reduce risks and be better prepared to respond quickly if a landslide occurs
