LA Fire areas brace for ‘life-threatening’ debris flows from the worst storm in a year as another storm hits the Midwest – CNN
Source: CNN
Evacuation warnings have been issued in parts of Los Angeles County ravaged by deadly wildfires last month, as Southern California’s most significant storm in more than a year stokes fears of life-threatening debris flows and a high risk of mudslides.
It’s just one of three winter storms this week brought about by a hyperactive weather pattern that’s been slamming the US with snow, ice and rain since the start of the month – another storm is currently hitting the Plains and Midwest with heavy snow.
In addition to the evacuation warnings across Southern California, preparations aimed at preventing debris flow disaster are underway before the worst conditions from California’s storm arrive Thursday.
Troopers are assisting the Holts Summit Police Department in investigating the single-vehicle crash. Authorities have confirmed one fatality. No further details about the victim or the circumstances of the crash have been released.
The upcoming storm will be the “most significant” so far this winter in Southern California and will bring “very intense” rainfall, warned Ariel Cohen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Los Angeles.
Some rain will impact Southern California Wednesday but it will be much lighter in nature than what’s to come Thursday.
Portions of California’s Los Angeles and Ventura counties — including areas burned by the Palisades and Eaton fires — are under a Level 3 of 4 risk of flooding rainfall Thursday, according to the Weather Prediction Center. More than 36 million in the rest of the state are under a level 2 of 4 risk of flooding rainfall Thursday. The threat area encompasses San Francisco, Sacramento, San Diego and areas in between.
In Los Angeles County, the evacuation warnings will be in effect Thursday morning until Friday afternoon, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said in an update Wednesday.
This includes residents living near the remnants of the deadly Palisades Fire, as well as the Sunset and Hurst Fires, according to fire officials.
In Orange County, voluntary evacuations will be issued Thursday morning for several canyon areas near the Airport Fire burn scar, according to a Wednesday news release. Tuesday, Santa Barbara County residents in “areas within and near the Lake Fire burn scar” were placed under an evacuation warning, the sheriff’s office said.
Meanwhile, a number of communities in San Bernardino County are under evacuation warnings, according to the sheriff’s office.
Residents in the communities of Highland, Wrightwood and Mt. Baldy should be prepared for flooding and mudslides, a county spokesperson, David Wert, told CNN Wednesday. “We have sent phone and text messages to all residents living downstream of the Line and Bridge fire burn scars,” Wert added.
The threat to the burn scar areas comes as officials are tackling the effort to remove hazardous debris left behind by the fires. Los Angeles County recently bolstered storm preparations by cleaning debris basins, installing concrete barriers and placing sandbags in fire zones to filter debris and protect storm drains.
Officials have been notifying residents in Altadena and Malibu Hills that they may be impacted by mud or debris flows, according to Luna. Search and rescue teams, deputies and helicopter crews are also on standby to respond to the storm in burn areas.
More than 7,500 feet of concrete barriers and more than 6,500 sandbags have been deployed to areas burned in the Palisades Fire in case of debris flows, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced Tuesday. Similar protections for the Eaton Fire burn scar were ongoing, according to California’s Office of Emergency Services.
Thursday’s flood risk will not be confined to areas scorched by wildfires.
“Even outside of the burn scars, we’re looking at the potential for some pretty significant urban area flooding,” Cohen warned.
This storm will dump 1 to 3 inches of rain over the Los Angeles basin and totals could approach 6 inches in the area’s mountains — including the burn scar of the Palisades Fire. This is the most rain in the area from a storm since last year’s extensive flooding and mudslides in and around Los Angeles.
“Of course we’re concerned about the Palisades and the burned areas, but this is for all of Los Angeles to be concerned about the rain and the impacts,” Bass implored.
The heaviest bursts of rain from Thursday afternoon into early Friday morning could also be accompanied by damaging wind gusts. These winds will be capable of downing trees and power lines and blowing around debris.
Another disruptive winter storm is underway in the eastern half of the US. Snow
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