Homeowners bore landslide losses personally because insurance excluded them

Evidence

The story of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Scott was typical. The couple bought a $30,000 home in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1957, but the hillside above the house began to slip three years later after a heavy rain. The next winter, the hill slipped further, and – as one chronicler of the disaster wrote – it did not stop slipping until the Scotts’ house was leveled. The homes of nine neighbors were damaged seriously. Despite the disaster, however, the Scotts still had to pay the mortgage: “A pile of rubble at 419 Bluebill Lane mocks the Scotts’ monthly payments.” — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside, 670