The wet weather hitting the Bay Area this week is raising concerns over landslides.
Geotechnical consultant Alan Kropp said a 1998 landslide on Wildcat Road in El Cerrito was caused by the El Nino storm. Kropp said the incident didn't happen over night, but took more than 20 years of the ground gradually giving way.
"If we get an El Nino kind of rainfall we can get those big catastrophic landslides," Kropp said. "Back in 1982, the Love Creek area in the Santa Cruz Mountains we had landslides that killed a dozen people. It has happened before it can happen again."
In March 2011, heavy rain triggered a massive mudslide in San Pablo, destroying the backyards of about a dozen homes on Wyman and Hillcrest roads.
The deadly slide in Washington where 14 people are confirmed dead and 170 other unaccounted for is a strong reminder that the Bay Area also has areas that can be dangerous.
"I think people have to be prepared," said Lu Tipping, who lives on Wildcat Road. "They take the risk of living in remote places and areas like us and we did the same. But we're ready."
