"The fan of the landslide, where a surge of boulders and mud blasted the forest open after rushing down the steeper slopes of Arizona Mountain in the Catskills, is about 100 feet widean undulating plane of rocks, mangled tree trunks, and invasive plants such as Japanese stiltgrass that thrive in disturbed areas. On a hot July day the seasonal stream that runs through this ravine, named the Shingle Kill, is small enough to step over."
"When Tropical Storm Irene hovered over these mountains on August 28, 2011, the Shingle Kill swelled like all the otherwise unremarkable streams in the area, frothing downhill in a torrent the color of chocolate milk. This storm was a particularly bad one, dropping up to 18 inches of rain on the northeastern escarpment of the Catskills. Throughout the region explosive rivers eroded their banks, flooding towns and ripping away buildings."
A landslide behind a neighbor's backyard left a 100-foot-wide fan of rocks, mangled trees, and invasive plants, yet it does not appear on New York State, Greene County, or USGS landslide inventories. The debris field still shows the violence 14 years later. The seasonal ravine, the Shingle Kill, is normally small but swollen during Tropical Storm Irene on August 28, 2011, when up to 18 inches of rain fell, turning streams into chocolate-milk torrents. Rivers eroded banks, flooded towns, and ripped away buildings. The first house downstream belonged to Diane and Ken Herchenroder, longtime residents.
Read at www.scientificamerican.com
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