Learn how to keep your home safe from landslides Oct. 29 | Environment

You know what makes winter in Seattle significantly worse? Watching your house and all your belongings slide down a wet, eroding hill.

This weekend, the city his hosting a Landslide Awareness Meeting to teach North Seattle residents how to keep their property safe in a city that had nearly 100 landslides last year.

From the Seattle Department of Planning and Development:

Landslide experts agree there is not one single factor that contributes to the amount of slides in the area, but with last year’s La Nina-type weather conditions, the wet and cold weather saturated the soil and greatly reduced slope stability.

With 20,000 Seattle properties (mostly residential) in landslide-prone areas, the City of Seattle and the Take Winter By Storm campaign encourage property owners to take preventive measures to protect themselves from landslides by attending the 2011 City of Seattle Landslide Awareness Meetings.

The meeting will feature a presentation on landslides, proper drainage and vegetation maintenance, as well as a question-and-answer session with private and public landslide experts. It takes place from 10 a.m. to noon Oct. 29 at the Northgate Community Center, located at 10510 Fifth Ave. N.E.

If you can’t make it, here are a few simple steps from the city to keep your house from sliding away:

• Check downspouts to make sure they are functioning and routed to a safe location.
• Inspect sloping areas for signs of movement or erosion.
• Keep fill and yard waste off of slopes.
• Leave tree stumps in the ground on slopes.