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In a recent “Washington Post” story, Brad Johnson, associate professor and department chair of environmental studies, warned that aggressive development in the North Carolina mountains could exacerbate the threat of landslides.

Over the past half-century, more people have moved to the mountains, pushing into areas that are particularly vulnerable to landslides. The threat is easy to ignore until storm systems like Hurricane Florence move over the Blue Ridge.

“When you buy a place up in the mountains, someone comes and inspects the well and the chimney and there’s a home inspection, but no one hires a professional geologist to look at edge-slope stability,” Johnson said. “It’s just not part of the buying process, and realtors aren’t even thinking about it.”

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