Saturday, December 15, 2007

Cold, stark, vulnerable canyons





At or near Modjeska Grade/Live Oak Canyon
(Orange County, California)

Today, I asked Dora, the realtor, just how vulnerable Modjeska Canyon is, and she said, "Well, the little canyon above my house—the fire burned so hot there that even the roots are gone, so if we get three or four inches of rain, well, the mud can all come down at once."

I stared at her. Finally, I said, "Let's hope that doesn't happen. Maybe we'll get lucky."

"Yeah," she said.

But she was worried. She didn't even try to hide it.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

They've got nothing to worry about. Trust me.

Bohrstein said...

Quick question - Why do they place the sandbags that way?

Roy Bauer said...

I'm no expert, but this configuration seems to drive the water onto the road, which, of course, is asphalt and does not erode. On the other side of the road (near the top of Harris Grade), large concrete barriers are set up, but they may be there to catch massive mud runoff.

Bohrstein said...

Awesome, thanks.

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...