Coping With Our Disasters

* The subject of your March 8 editorial “Who Pays for Rebuilding? Homeowners in disaster-prone areas must face facts,” is vexing.

The question of where and how to draw the line over what is and is not dangerous opens a can of worms.

For instance, there are areas within the nation that suffer hurricane and tornado damage annually. Do we include these areas along with earthquake-, fire- and flood-prone areas which generally suffer less frequency of disaster?

Or do we exclude these areas and why? If we do exclude them, how do we deal with equity issues? Who would make such awesome decisions, and do they have a prayer of passing constitutional muster?

Suggesting that flood insurance is the answer when other types of insurance for natural disasters are either woefully inadequate or nonexistent does not deal comprehensively or fairly with different disaster types geographically. Moreover, private and public insurance each have their up- and downsides, as anyone who has wrestled with such coverage knows.

Your suggestion of beginning to address this issue by restricting or limiting new development in dangerous areas has been tried, but constantly fails under the weight of county decision-makers who cannot and will not say no to developers.

Until our decision-makers change--or are forced to change--their thinking, I hold little hope for even this easier, sensible, and more local approach.

SHERRY LEE MEDDICK

Silverado

* Earlier today I personally viewed the damage that occurred at Laguna Canyon Road. The land erosion caused by the multiple torrential storms of these past several weeks is not new.

As one who is wintering in this area for the first time, it is unimaginable for me that a state that has experienced disasters of this sort on an almost constant basis would not have found some means by which to control mudslides.

Agronomists could suggest methods in holding these hills from eroding and laws to curb development of raw land.

Collecting water in uninhabited canyons in reservoir fashion, proper slope planting, development controls and a general enlargement of catch basins to control street runoff would avoid this unnecessary impairment to lives, business and homes.

M.H. BRILLIANT

Laguna Hills