Winter on the ridges.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW!

The picture to the right, lovely Western NC fall color. The pictures below, same place...WNC.
Shocking pictures...perhaps, but no more so than what is happening in La Jolla, CA as you read this and what has happened all over the US in one form or another in recent memory.
Landslides, earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, tornados all natural disasters from Washington State to Florida and all points in between and across this great country.

Where does one go to build their dream home with a guarantee and 100% certainty that mother nature won't intrude in an ugly and unpredictable manner? What does this have to do with the fact that all of Western North Carolina is classified as a natural disaster zone with a history of deadly landslides and earth movement? Nothing really, other than where we live is no more or no less prone to natural disasters than most anywhere else in America. Different kinds perhaps but natural disasters none the less.

What is different here is that the very agencies that should be dedicated to seeing to it that you, as a prospective resident of WNC, willing to spend your money building in these lovely mountains are provided with at least the minimum of warning of the natural and man made problems you might face. In fact they are not doing so.

Should you know that the area is prone to landslides and other earth movement under certain conditions? And perhaps more importantly, shouldn't you know that there is no insurance available to cover your losses if by chance, however slight, you are affected by earth movement of any type, natural or man made. Of course you should be told. You are advised by law of the dangers of lead paint, termites, radon, asbestos and other possible dangers to your health and financial well being. How is it that when you build or buy in WNC no one sees fit to advise you of these facts? Simple...NO ONE IS LEGALLY REQUIRED TO DO SO UNDER EXISTING LAW.
Shocking? Maybe even more so than the photos, is the lack of information provided to you.

Starnes Cove, Jonas Ridge

Peeks Creek- 5 dead, 15 homes destroyed

It can and does happen in these beautiful mountains!

Newly discovered photo of Asheville city council meeting.

A well placed source has admitted to this blog that when not meeting in public the mayor and council members have been known to dress in drag and and practice tooting their own horns.

In this just newly discovered... but unauthorized photo... why not try and identify the cleverly disguised council members.

Give up? OK, left to right. Terry, Robin, Bryan, Holly, Jan, Brownie,and last but not least Carl

Pictures of statistical insignficance

"It remains that there have been no slides in Asheville City and the statistical significance of the number of slope issue incidents across WNC are so limited as to be statistically insignficant. It is my personal sense that government should be responding to the horses and not the zebras and that Asheville's draconian steep slope ordinances are a special interest indulgence."

Pop quiz...Who made this profound statement?

1. Attila the Hun

2. Carl Mumpower

3. Homer Simpson

4. Newt Gingrich

If you choose #2 you would be correct. If you choose 1 or 3 or 4 you could be forgiven for mistaken identity.

You didn't know, did you?...Things they don't teach in Real Estate 101

Here is some information that may be of interest to you as a property owner in a state designated High Risk Landslide Hazard Zone... that's right all of WNC has been declared as such. So the questions you ask are:
"Why wasn't this information revealed to me when I bought my home?" and further,
"What protection do I have if earth movement should affect my home?"
Insurance is designed to protect your home against damage or loss but in landslide prone Western North Carolina there is no insurance available... that's right NO insurance to cover ANY damage caused by earth movement for ANY reason.

Why didn't you know this? Because no one has any legal responsibility to tell you... the state of North Carolina does not require disclosure of these two important bits of information; one, that you are buying in a declared hazard zone and two, that there is no insurance available.

As you know, the law requires that, as a buyer, you must be told of all sorts of likely hazards: termites, asbestos, radon, lead paint, but not one word about what are arguably the most potentially dangerous possibilities to your safety and financial well-being... earth movement and the absence of insurance.