BzBirdz

If you live next to a dirt hill, you might wonder how to protect your home from a mudslide during heavy rain.

If the hill is not properly protected during a rainstorm, a mudslide can happen.

Mudslides can be dangerous and deadly. In Everett, Washington, a large mudslide took the lives of 41 individuals in April 2014.

Here are a few solutions to protect your house or street from mudslides:

Permanent Solutions

• Planting vegetation: This is the best and most long-term solution to erosion. When trees and other plants are planted on the hill, the roots keep the soil in place, preventing mudslides.
• Short term solutions
  If planting vegetation is not possible or too late for the coming rainy season, here are two different short-term solutions that can still protect your home.
  • Sandbags are a great way of protecting against mudslides.
    • Be sure to fill the bags with gravel (not sand).
    • The gravel allows water to flow through but stops soil, avoiding a mudslide.
  • Cover open soil with jute and landscape staples
    • Adding jute (held down using landscape staples) to a recently burned area of land or exposed hill (no trees or vegetation) is another great way to protect against mudslides.