A house built on a cliff too close to an active disaster zone.
According to an ABC news article, it is unclear what triggered Wednesday’s landslide along Puget Sound’s shoreline. So far, 25 homes have been affected by the landslide that occurred about 4:15 a.m. on the west side of Whidbey Island near the town of Coupeville. Residents heard what sounded like thunder before the massive landslide shaved the island banks in Washington state. What created the disaster?
The news explains that “something” is putting pressure on the high slopes along the Pacific shore causing the Earth to move. Um hum, let’s back up a minute. Yes, it is important to realize that “recent Earth shifting” is putting pressure on the high slopes along the Pacific shore, but let’s NOT FORGET that unsafe building locations are why this Earth movement has forced evacuations.
What’s Happening and What To Do About It
We need to look at the bigger picture within the Earth itself to determine what to do next. We are looking in the wrong places for the answers to Earth events such as this. No one wants to admit that we have built in the WRONG places, but don’t blame Mother Nature. Leaving these volatile shorelines undeveloped would NOT have ended in disaster – no harm would have been done in the natural world.
When will we stop building, and re-building – in the wrong places? We build skyscrapers and nuclear
Bridging Over Disaster Zones
power plants on top of earthquake zones. We construct double-decker bridges across miles of fractured oceans. We build cities and airports at the bases of volcanoes, and we design housing developments, like the homes on Whidbey Island, too close to the edge. Then we blame nature when earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, and floods destroy our possessions. Our focus on material conforts is distorting our awareness that this planet is mightier than our need for “comfortable lifestyles.”
Nature can change in an instant, and it is, right now, right under our noses. No amount of money and technology will ever change it.
Technology
Technology is a remarkable thing and it has, no doubt, enhanced our quality of life, but it has also given us a false sense of security. Our overabundance of man-made paraphernalia has created the illusion that humans are immune to outside influences. Then, when a natural disaster occurs, we play the victim and blame Nature. Humans believe that we can ultimately control Nature and our environments. This outlook must change because Earth movements are increasing.
Come on people, don’t rebuild these homes along Puget Sound’s shoreline. It’s time to actively adopt a new view of the Earth. THEN, we can thrust our wishes and desires in the right direction, into a place that is more down-to-Earth, and certainly more in synch with the on-going power of this planet.
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