The regions of Southern California are on high alert as they prepare for another day of possible mudslides in areas devastated by wildfires last month, following a deluge on Thursday that triggered evacuation orders, caused a fire department vehicle to be swept into the waters of Malibu, and buried sections of a coastal highway under several feet of mud. Despite the flood alerts being lifted in the Los Angeles area by Thursday evening, the National Weather Service office in Los Angeles issued a warning that the risk of mud and rock slides persists even after the rain has ceased.
Evacuation orders and warnings are currently in effect until 2 p.m. local time (5 p.m. ET) Friday in the recently burned regions, including the Palisades Fire area that spanned over 20,000 acres and destroyed numerous homes, the Sunset Fire area located east and south of Runyon Canyon, and areas near the burn scars of the Eaton Fire, which consumed more than 14,000 acres to the east. Striking footage captured the moment when a member of the Los Angeles Fire Department managed to escape from his vehicle as it was carried into the ocean by swiftly moving debris along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu around 5 p.m. on Thursday. Despite sustaining minor injuries, he was safely rescued and taken to a local hospital as a precaution, according to LAFD spokesperson Erik Scott.
Furthermore, a security guard had to be rescued by the Los Angeles County Fire Department on Thursday after his vehicle became trapped in floodwaters at the Catch Basin on Chaney Trail in Altadena. Although suffering from hypothermia, the man was transported to a hospital; however, emergency crews were unable to reach his submerged vehicle. Videos captured by the Altadena Mountain Rescue depicted fast-moving debris flows cascading down the streets of hilly residential neighborhoods in Altadena and Pasadena during the storm.
The torrential downpour led to homes and cars being buried in mud, streets being submerged, and stores along Melrose Avenue in other parts of Los Angeles being flooded. In Hollywood Hills, a debris flow left 8 inches of mud strewn across the renowned Mulholland Drive, as reported by NBC Los Angeles. As of Friday morning, sections of the Pacific Coast Highway remain closed as bulldozers work to clear debris, and schools in Malibu have been shut down temporarily.
The storm on Thursday was the most powerful of the season so far. Coupled with showers earlier in the week, the rainfall for the 48-hour period ending at 5 a.m. PT on Friday included: 5.82 inches at the San Gabriel Dam, 3.85 inches at Sepulveda Canyon on Mulholland Drive, 2.87 inches in downtown Los Angeles, and 3.12 inches at Mount Wilson near the site of the Eaton Fire, according to NBC Los Angeles. While approximately 4 million individuals in California remain under flood watches on Friday morning
