"We will rebuild" is repeated a lot after climate disasters nowadays. Sadly, i don't think you can "rebuild it back like it was" and expect different results and a repeat nowadays.
Personally, I think the Japanese have the right idea with "Tsunami Stones"
Smithsonian: These Century-Old Stone “Tsunami Stones” Dot Japan’s Coastline
“Remember the calamity of the great tsunamis. Do not build any homes below this point.”
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AI6YR Ben
In response to this postA couple of ruins in the canyons around here. The bathtub is not far from the Palisades Fire. The Chimney is in my town. All here destroyed by wildfires in the past. (note: bananas are good firebreaks, those are the original bananas from that house, they survived the wildfire that burnt down this house).
@ai6yr if we make the homes out of banana trees...
by Finitum ;
@ai6yr guy on NPR was saying building back with steel frames + hempcrete where wood would have been used would go a long way. Even something as simple as OHagin vents are a vast improvement vs the old spinner turbines.
by Finitum ;
@ai6yr
Building houses out of sticks, plywood, and cardboard was never a good idea.
by gz ;
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moggie
In response to this postBuilding back the way it was before seems frankly idiotic, given that current conditions aren't the same as the past, and future conditions are almost certainly going to be more intense.
Better to build for what you anticipate conditions will be.
@ai6yr
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MsMerope
In response to this post@ai6yr
time to drag this out again I guess...
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dante
In response to this post@ai6yr I have some relatives-in-law who lost their home in Altadena and are determined to rebuild, which I can both entirely understand as a desire and also I think is just... not a good idea. I feel so conflicted hearing people say "well we'll just do it again, but build it better". Like, is that really a sustainable path forward here?
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LA Plant Genetics
In response to this post@ai6yr
Sadly, with the pressure for housing of any kind even before the fires, it will probably be built back worse, as that is cheap & quick.
The only homes I have seen designed to withstand fires/hurricanes were custom built for that purpose. Developers just want the house to stand long enough to be sold. (Yes, I saw a lot of homes that looked like cheap flat pack furniture in house form in TX).
@Laplantgenetics After fixing up my house after my plumbing disaster last year, I discovered that yes, my house is basically sawdust and glue, with a layer of paint. 😬
by AI6YR Ben ;
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Steve in Ventura
In response to this post@ai6yr Personally I’d like to see us put a strip of farmland between towns and hillsides when feasible. The 2 fires in Camarillo in the last 3 years seemed to abruptly stop when they ran into farmland between saticoy and Camarillo. Strawberries don’t burn nearly as well.
@SteveInVentura Definitely. Also, avocado groves are notorious for stopping fires, because avocado trees are basically giant bundles of water.
by AI6YR Ben ;
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armerpunkt
In response to this post@ai6yr I know it would be super unpopular/never happen (and that we have a housing shortage but that’s an entirely different matter), but I was thinking California should really pass a law banning rebuilding any housing that was destroyed by wildfires. They could make it an alternative scheme to fire insurance. So homeowners pay into it and if their house burns down they’ll get the money to buy a home elsewhere but they can’t rebuild.
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Arapalla
In response to this post@ai6yr
Managed retreat is now a priority.
Building back, in a large number of cases, is futile and expensive.
People's resistance to change is going to get them seriously hurt.
Governments need to step up.
Maybe the fossil fuel companies can pay for it.
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RiaResists
In response to this post@ai6yr even with as attached as people are, some places should not be rebuilt.
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ChookMother 🇦🇺🦘
In response to this post@ai6yr In the end it may hinge on whether insurance companies are willing to insure new buildings in that area.
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emadfamilygaza
In response to this post@ai6yr A repost or donation could provide us with the help we desperately need. 🙏
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Jo
In response to this post@ai6yr You can't prevent tsunami, but you can do a lot to stop fires. It may make it a lot less attractive place to live though
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oheso
In response to this post@ai6yr If only the Japanese had heeded their own warning!
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Chris Adams
In response to this post@ai6yr I’ve been pondering that for awhile. When I left San Diego, they were just starting to require better defensive measures for boundary communities – things like wide ice plant perimeters in addition to structural improvements – but that extra land is expensive.
I’m not sure low-density cities built around car travel can afford to defend sprawling fire perimeters, but anything more than modest density is expensive in earthquake country and a lot of people aren’t used to it and balk.
@ai6yr there’s just this achingly-hard collective action problem here, too, where we really need to reconsider everything we do from the standpoint of reducing emissions but politically even if Californians cut way back it won’t be enough to fix the problem, and the national political situation means it’ll be will likely be misused in attacks similar to what we’ve seen for years over water use reduction.
by Chris Adams ;
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Petra van Cronenburg
In response to this post@ai6yr In France, we have a geological digital database of natural and human-made risks to the ground (from erosion and contaminated sites to flooded areas). You can't sell/buy/construct a house without this. And insurances know it well, too.
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David :SetouchiExplorer:
In response to this post@ai6yr Unfortunately, even in Japan, no one follows the advice of those stones anymore, land by the sea is just too attractive.
@David Oooof
by AI6YR Ben ;
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nak
In response to this post@ai6yr I’m struck by this observation “It takes about three generations for people to forget”
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Darwin Woodka
In response to this post@ai6yr
Maybe put them up in the WUI over houses that have burned down
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Jack William Bell
In response to this post@ai6yr
This wisdom seem applicable in SO MANY WAYS, not just to tsunamis:
> "It takes about three generations for people to forget. Those that experience the disaster themselves pass it to their children and their grandchildren, but then the memory fades."
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Bill, organizer of stuff
In response to this post@ai6yr I'm developing a similar marker for parts of my career.
@wcbdata LOL
by AI6YR Ben ;
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Kim Possible
In response to this post@ai6yr I think any homes need to be built to better withstand fire. Thick concrete isn't sexy, but more practical, as well as stone, and to a lesser extent, brick.
In Palm Coast, FL, it took my BIL three years to get his home built, to required specs that mean it can withstand most hurricanes.
Fire is much harder to build against, but I remember one house that had thick cement walls that survived some years back, while none of the other wood frame homes made it.
@kimlockhartga @ai6yr
building codes and what home owners are willing to pay are much of the impediment.
a good friend lives in black forest co. the home he bought had been a builder as initial owner and at twice the required fire regs at the time.
when the black forest fire in 2013 went through, all 7 other homes on the culdesac, built only to code, were burned to the ground. he lost an outbuilding and had to have windows replaced (and smoke damage) but the house was more or less intact.
fire requirements, after the waldo canyon and black forest fires, were increased for all new structures and some existing stuff, like cedar shingle roofing, are now entirely illegal.
i suspect that home insurance (or inability to get it without increased regs) will be driving "better" homes.
by Paul_IPv6 ;
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mizblueprint
In response to this post@ai6yr
There are some uninformed comments in this thread.
1. Building codes are minimums to allow escape from the building during earthquake or fire.
2. Building Codes are not retroactive. If you buy a home built prior to current codes, your house probably does not meet the new code.
3. There are residential building systems that are both fire resistant and earthquake resistant. If you want fireproof and earthquake proof, you will need to pay for that.
4. I am a licensed CA Architect since 1983.
@mizblueprint Thanks for chiming in!
by AI6YR Ben ;
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Gary Houston
In response to this post@ai6yr if you avoid all the areas which may be subject to disasters, such as fires, sea-level rise, drought, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, excessive snowfall, how much would be left?
@ghouston (assuming you steer around the hurricanes)
by AI6YR Ben ;
@ghouston @ai6yr we bought above the flood line, close enough to the coast for consistent rainfall, far enough the forest to avoid high fire risk, all those considerations (not trying to escape the risks, just standard farm planning).
A few months ago we were hit with hail bigger than golf balls, every building in town lost its roof and windows.
by Queer Like The Slur ;
Not all of those hazards are equally impactful. Sea-level rise can be planned around. You can prepare for heavy snowfall and drought. Even earthquake damage can be mitigated by building codes. Also, the way we build makes many catastrophes worse. We don't have to use such flammable materials, or build neighborhoods with only a single road to get out. We don't have to allow flimsy mobile homes in areas prone to tornadoes; we could even build underground if we wanted to.
@ghouston @ai6yr
by moggie ;
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Crystal_Fish_Caves
In response to this post@ai6yr malibu should be turned into what it should have been all along. A park for all not private beaches for the rich. Never gonna happen.
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