Summary
In response to the series on Unnatural Disasters (by George Watson and Guy McCarthy, June 27-30), Joseph Arias of Redlands wrote ("Flawed theme,' Dec. 22): "One can only assume such residents knowingly assumed the risks that come with heavy rains and flooding and, having made a voluntary decision to live there, have no one to blame but themselves, if they find their back yards filled with mud and debris.'
What Arias fails to realize is that the average citizen is not qualified to judge how dangerous a home site is. When average buyers choose houses, most do not spend a lot of time researching all of the potential natural hazards of each home.See the full content of this document
Extract
Buyer, Beware
For example, although Arias might be able to roughly estimate the flooding potential of his home site in Redlands, he likely has no knowledge of how close he lives to active faults or liquefaction hazards, nor did he likely check into these issues when buying his house. Rather, he probably expects that government agencies with such expertise would protect him from such haz...
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