A powerful storm swept through Southern California, triggering mudslides and flash floods in areas scarred by recent wildfires. Thousands of residents were on edge as the storm dumped heavy rain, causing debris flows and damaging buildings. Emergency crews worked tirelessly to rescue people and safeguard communities.
A worker clears debris from a mudslide on the Pacific Coast Highway in the Pacific Palisades burn zone, in Los Angeles, on Feb. 13, 2025. Photo by Daniel Cole, ReutersIn large swaths of Los Angeles, Ventura and Orange counties scarred by fires, thousands of residents were on edge through the night as the heaviest storm of the season hit. The storm deposited 8 inches of mud across Mulholland Drive in the Hollywood Hills.
No injuries were confirmed but emergency teams reported several rescue attempts and some damaged buildings. Emergency crews had worked feverishly in a last-minute effort to safeguard communities. The heaviest rain began about 4 p.m., when the National Weather Service issued a mandatory evacuation order, telling people within the Eaton Fire burn scar to move immediately out of the area. Cell phones sounded the alert, and on streets beneath the burned area, streams of muddy water flowed freely. Residents illuminated by car headlights stacked sandbags as the storms began. The Altadena Mountain Rescue Team posted a video showing a rushing waterway that overflowed its banks. The clacking sound of large rocks and boulders boomed in the foothills’ narrow canyons. Local officials called it “the largest flood at Eaton Canyon in 45 years,” saying it rerouted a creek more than 150 feet and uprooted dozens of trees in a park. In Altadena, a resident said, “Almost a wipeout here…A river, a wall of mud just came toward us. It was quick, it was sudden and lasted a good 5 minutes” covering the station’s photographer with mud to his waist. Fires incinerate vegetation that holds soil together and helps stabilize steep slopes. When rain falls quickly on such areas, water races downstream, picking up sand and gravel, then boulders. A debris flow can carry away vehicles and obliterate homes. Southern California debris flows in 1969, 2003 and 2018 killed dozens of people. In some cases, three to five years may pass after a fire before the risk of debris flows fully subsides. The storm brought much-needed rain to drought-stricken Southern California, but the danger of mudslides and flash floods remained high in areas burned by recent wildfires.
Mudslide Storm Flash Flood Wildfire Southern California Emergency Disaster
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