LANDSLIDE LOSS ESTIMATION INVESTIGATION, NORTHERN KENTUCKY AND SOUTHWESTERN OHIO

One of the program goals of the USGS Landslide Hazards Program is to reduce losses from landslides through an improved understanding of the magnitude of landslide hazards. An integral component of achieving this goal is to be able to quantify the costs of landslide damage on an annual basis as a way of documenting the real costs associated with landslide activity. To date however, it has been difficult to quantify the costs because of the variety and applicability of accessible records. This study was part of a Landslide Loss Estimation Pilot Project directed by the Geologic Hazards Committee of the Association of State Geologists and the USGS Landslide Hazards Program Office to determine, from selected local governments, what kind of information currently is available and if it is feasible to develop a program for documentation of landslide costs with this data.

The greater Cincinnati area of northern Kentucky and southwestern Ohio has long been recognized as a region of unstable slopes. Landslide activity has been reported as having occurred as far back as 1850. As the metropolitan region has expanded onto unstable slopes, landslides have become an increasingly significant problem that impacts the welfare of the citizens and the economic development of the city. Thus, the region has a long record of landslide loss data available for evaluation.

The results of the study indicated that it appears as if there is a sufficient quantity of data available on the costs of landslide remediation so that it would be possible to determine a reasonable estimation of the overall economic impact of landslides to this area. The results also suggested however, that the type, quality and availability of this information varies considerably and that it would consist primarily of direct costs. Thus there would the potential for basing the estimation on an incomplete or non-representative data base. These observations support the conclusions of the Pilot Project study that the collection and retrieval of landslide loss data would be greatly facilitated if states and local governments could reach agreement on standardization of terminology and methods of data collection.