Fractured debate

People of the mountain front make remarkably hardy clients for consulting geologists and engineers:

"if you point out a potential hazards, they say, 'I'm ready to live with that.' People really don't believe what it's like until they go through it."
"Most people don't give it a thought. Or they minimize the importance of it."
"People forget so soon. In a couple of years, they build again."

"They are playing ostrich."

[......]

There are lots of mailboxes along the mountain front.
"There is no problem now."
"Our property is not affected."
"I think we're all pretty well covered. I'm hoping so. The water rushed down quite nicely in the wash."
"The fire was three years ago. It's not supposed to flood. I cancelled my flood insurance last year."
"No, we're not concerned. We lived through the San Fernando earthquake."

[......]

As an average populace in a shamefully litigious nation, the people of Glendora took their town to court. "After we busted our butts for months trying to help people, we ended up being sued by the people we tried to help," Arthur Cook [Acting City Manager] said. "They said in court that we were cognizant there were going to be problems and we did not stop Mother Nature. in her tracks. you read about flooding on the Mississippi. They don't sue the city for not keeping the Mississippi from going over its banks. Here they do sue the city for not keeping the mountains from eroding." The city lost.

[......]

Inevitably, someone was inspired to put the rock back up in the mountains. This elegant absurdity may be the ne plus ultra in telling the Big Guy who's in charge. [...] For twenty million dollars, Los Angeles had returned the rock to the mountains. For twenty millions dollars, they had built in Burro Canyon an edifice ten times as large as the largest pyramid in Giza.