SEATTLE — "We've lived here almost 60 years. It's a treasure to live here," said John Law, who lives in Magnolia.
John and his wife Janet have seen houses come and go on their street. Some have been reduced to the foundation.
"A house came down in this tree and the house next door came down in the street," said John. At the same time, others leave no evidence of existence.
"Some people do move because they can't deal with the possibilities of it all," said Janet.
She remembers every landslide and said they made changes to protect their home.
"We did the pipe pulling, we keep our gutters flowing correctly so the water runs off and there are a lot of things we do," said Janet.
The Laws live in the red area of the Seattle map outlining landslide-prone areas. The city said now is the time to prepare for potential landslides because of next week's incoming wet weather.
"Well, you know western Washington is landslide country," said David Montgomery, a Geomorphology professor at the University of Washington.
He said it's important to know if your home is in a landslide area.
"If we get more than three inches a day in Seattle, that's when we can expect to see more landslides. But as that sponge fills up and the ground gets wetter, it takes less rain to cause more landslides," he said.
You can look for cracks in the foundation or soil movement and leave stumps and trees in the ground to stabilize the earth.
"The general rule in forensic landslide studies, whenever I get asked to go out and try to figure out what happened here, you follow the water. Look where the water is being drained whether it's off your house, off your driveway, off your roadway," said Montgomery.
Meanwhile, the Laws have had a front-row seat to the damage that can be done. "One year, the slides took out five houses," said Janet.
For them, it's the price you pay to live in paradise.
"We can't move. I mean, it's the most incredible place to live," said Janet.