Los Angeles: A swift debris flow swept a Los Angeles Fire Department vehicle off the Pacific Coast Highway and into the ocean in Malibu on Thursday as heavy rain fell across Southern California, creating deluges of water and mud on roads at the bottom of hillsides left barren by the recent wildfires.
One member of the fire department was in the vehicle and was able to exit with minor injuries, department spokesman Erik Scott said on X.
In Pacific Palisades, one intersection of the highway was submerged in at least three feet of sludge, with some drivers trying to force their way through and police officers pushing one vehicle through the muck. Bulldozers worked to clear the roads not far from where just weeks ago they moved abandoned cars after people fleeing the wildfires got stuck in traffic and fled on foot.
In north Altadena, a road near the Eaton Fire burn scar was also submerged by three feet of mud, vegetation and trees as a large stream of water overcame concrete blocks and caused a flash flood. The area was mostly deserted.
To the north, snow and ice contributed to major pileups on highways in Oregon and Washington, injuring at least 10 people, as a winter storm descended on the Pacific Northwest. The West Coast storms are just the latest in a week of bad weather across the US that cut power to tens of thousands. First responders searched every vehicle in the pileup near Multnomah Falls, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office said on social media. The office initially said more than 100 cars were involved, but the state transportation department later said the number was
20 to 30 vehicles.