I knew something was up this morning when the Orange County Fire Dept. mobile command post and a half-dozen fire trucks tore down Laguna Canyon Road as I was driving up to catch the train to work. Fire and Water were the last two elemental apocalypses to hit Laguna Beach, so I guess Earth was next. This morning’s landslide wasn’t too far away from the center of the big 1978 landslide. Obligatory GoogleMap of the affected area.
UPDATE: A local blog chimes in…
An ironic announcement comes via Elizabeth Pearson-Schneider, the hopelessly vain mayor of Laguna, “An account has been set up for donations.” In her usual clueless fashion it has gone out of her mind that just a minute before she set the value of the homes as “Oh, nothing below a million five certainly,” with no little local booster pride in her voice. She’s sporting the right look as usual: sharp little black baseball cap with the Laguna Beach zip code “92651” embroidered, not stenciled, on the front, carefully formed blonde (of course) pony tail falling just so out of the back, an intense attention to her makeup, and dangling gold errings that set off her carefully chosen black jacket.
Deep inside she’s probably hoping people don’t look too close at the town’s habit of wantonly handing out building permits for homes on 50 degree slopes. That’s been the way it has worked for years in this hamlet that is home to some of the worst art and most expensive real estate in Southern California.