With the increase population growth in the foothills, developers have altered hillsides and drainage systems, replaced absorbent topsoil’s with runoff-causing asphalt. As the area has become more crowded, it has become necessary and desirable to build homes into the hillsides. In order to build safely on steep slopes, develope

The question of if Monte Vista School, Valley View School, and Rosemont Junior High School will have any negative impacts from geologic or hydrologic events is not the issue, the issue is when and how severe the events will be. The La Cresenta area, where these schools are located, has a history of floods, and sits in the middle of several earthquake faults.

As parents we are concerned about the safety of our children. We also understand the severe weather that can at times become disastrous to our local and neighboring communities. With this in mind we want to propose the following guidelines in the event of an emergency during school hours.

The La Cresenta area is typically a warm dry area during summer months, but a wet area in the winter. Rainfall from November to March averages 2.52 inches of rain per month, while the other months of the year average only .31 inches of rain per month. The heavier winter rains have proven to create devastating floods to the area. The foothill area of the San Gabriel Mountains is known for frequent floods during the winter months, and La Cresenta is located at the base of these mountains. The most serious damage and greatest danger from flooding are not water, but debris flows, mudslides, and landslides. The content of these movements include rocks and boulders of all sizes, trees, cars, and even homes. The mass movement of debris from the mountain slopes will pick up speed and cause mass devastation to anything in its path. All of the schools mentioned are very near debris basins, or in other words large areas where attempts to collect debris have been developed. Even though each basin is capable of handling 78,480 cubic yards of debris, there are no guarantees that these basin will be able to contain the amount of debris that could result from a flood.

Some topics in this essay:
La Cresenta, Flow Fire, Junior School, December March, North American, Angeles County, Gabriel Mountains, November March, La Crescenta, Southern California, la cresenta, monte vista, rosemont junior, junior school, rosemont junior school, valley view, view school rosemont, gabriel mountains, san gabriel, geologic hydrologic, monte vista school, debris basins, vista school valley, valley view school, school rosemont,