Readiness: Get prepared to respond to landslides

This page provides landslide readiness messages.

Make and practise your emergency plan, have a grab bag and emergency supplies.

Regularly inspect your property, especially after long dry spells, earthquakes or heavy rainfall.

• Look for signs of instability: doors and windows that start to stick, gaps appearing, decks moving or tilting away from the house, new cracks or bulges on the ground, leaning trees or fences, slope movement, etc.
• Watch the land around where you live for signs of increased threat. Look at the hillsides around your home for any signs of land movement (like rockfall, small landslides or debris flows) and any trees that start to “tilt” over time.
• Watch the patterns of storm water drainage on slopes near your home, and especially the places where runoff water converges, increasing flow over soil-covered slopes. Noticing small changes can alert you to an increased threat of a landslide.

If you notice any of these changes, seek professional advice as soon as possible. There may be some problems you can fix yourself, but many will require expert help.

Other things you can do:

• Keep gutters, downpipes and drains free of dirt, leaves and other blockages. Trim back or remove vegetation blocking drains and gutters.
• Inspect swimming pools regularly for leaks.
• Regularly empty septic tanks.
• Check retaining wall drainage for blockages and water build-up behind the wall.
• Regularly check and clear drains.