Los Angeles | Raging flames driven by a fierce windstorm scorched a rapidly growing area of southern California on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT), destroying homes, forcing at least 30,000 residents to evacuate and choking the sky with smoke, with officials warning that the worst was yet to come.

Traffic was backed up for miles along Sunset Boulevard as residents tried to flee the Pacific Palisades, an affluent coastal neighbourhood west of downtown Los Angeles that is home to some 24,000 people and many celebrities. Gusts of up to 160km/h, the strongest experienced in the region for more than a decade, were forecast overnight and well into Wednesday local time.

The Telegraph London