Even with good maps, there's no guarantee that the public will get the word about landslide hazards, or that state and local governments will take action to discourage or prevent building in dangerous areas.

The scientific effort to inform the public about landslide risks often runs head-on into powerful economic interests.

Firefighters go where they're needed, sometimes ignoring the dangers even when no one is inside a burning building to be saved.

NBC News found that FEMA has redrawn maps even for properties that have repeatedly filed claims for flood losses from previous storms. At least some of the properties are on the secret 'repetitive loss list' that FEMA sends to communities to alert them to problem properties.

The entire federal budget for landslide research is $3.5 million a year - far less than the property value lost on a single day when 17 mansions slid down a hill in 2005 in Laguna Beach, Calif.

Though some local governments have published their own regional administrative maps before, quite a number of regional borderlines are vague and the place names are not in compliance with government standards.