Lessons for Landslide Warning Systems
August 27, 2024
Striking with no warning, a landslide in the Alaska city of Ketchikan recently killed one person and damaged infrastructure, prompting the mayor to call landslides “a region-wide issue that we need to try to understand.” The experience of Sitka, Alaska, might offer insights. In Issues, researchers Lisa Busch, Robert Lempert, Max Izenberg, and Annette Patton describe working with the town to build an innovative landslide warning system. Beyond its practical capability, the team notes, the system “serves as a model of community-driven climate adaptation, while also offering an intriguing picture of how such collaborations may reenvision the way scientists and governance work.”