Rain on its way to the Los Angeles area will be a welcome relief to firefighters still battling to contain multiple catastrophic wildfires, but officials warned Sunday that flash floods and potential debris flows could be the trade-off.
People in fire-damaged areas were being told to prepare for the “worst-case scenario” of destructive landslides, though forecasters and fire officials noted that they are not that likely, with a 10% to 20% chance of debris flows, the Los Angeles Times reported.
A flood watch was in effect from 4 p.m. Sunday until 4 p.m. Monday, the National Weather Service posted on X.
“While damaging debris flows are not the most likely outcome, there is still a lot of uncertainty with this storm. The threat is high enough to prepare for the worst-case scenario,” the agency wrote.
The chance of damaging debris flow was highest in recently burned areas, including the Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Altadena and Pasadena, Lake Castaic and the Angeles National Forest, where the Bridge fire burned 56,000 acres in last fall.
As of Saturday, firefighters had gained the upper hand on all major fires plaguing the Los Angeles area, though none were 100% contained. The Palisades fire, which burned 23,400 acres, was 81% contained; the Eaton fire, which burned more than 14,000 acres and the most deadly with 17 fatalities, was 95% contained; the Hughes fire, which sparked up last week, was 87% contained and most evacuation orders were lifted or reduced.
