Rivers of mud and rocks hit LA fire zones after powerful storm sweeps through California

Suburbs decimated by the California wildfires have gone from smoldering to flooded after a powerful rainstorm turned scorched hillsides into rivers of mud and rocks.

Mudslides blocked roads around Los Angeles after heavy rain pounded areas burned by last month’s wildfires, sending denuded hillsides tumbling.

Parts of Los Angeles got as much as seven centimetres of rain in a day, leaving areas flooded and burn scars in Pacific Pallisades and Altadena strewn with fire debris and rubble.

The Pacific Coast Highway — a once picturesque road where multimillion-dollar properties were razed by January’s blazes — was shuttered, with thick mud blocking the way.

Mud covers the Pacific Coast Highway near the Palisades Fire zone as a storm swept through Malibu, California. Picture: Agustin Paullier / AFP

Mud and boulders cover a road near the Palisades Fire zone on February 14. Picture: Agustin Paullier / AFP

The aftermath of a storm in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Picture: Agustin Paullier / AFP

The torrent of water also washed a Los Angeles Fire Department vehicle into the ocean, where it remained Friday, with authorities saying they hoped to pull it out of the surf later in the day.

The fire department official who had been driving the SUV at the time escaped with minor injuries, a spokesman said.

In the Hollywood Hills, home to a mixture of movie stars and working class people, a large mudslide left around 8 inches of debris all over a main road.

And in Altadena, where thousands of buildings were destroyed by the fierce fires last month, a number of vehicles were stranded in debris that washed onto the streets.

Caustic black water from the Eaton Fire rushes by in the Eaton Wash near Altadena. Picture: David Swanson / AFP

Mud and boulders cover a road near the Palisades Fire zone. Picture: Agustin Paullier / AFP

The damage came despite extensive preparations by local authorities who had placed sandbags and concrete barriers in places thought to be at risk from the strongest storm of California’s winter.

While the area badly needed the rain — until February there had been no significant precipitation for eight months — it was always going to be a problem in places affected by the deadly fires.

Hillsides where anchoring vegetation has burned away are not able to absorb water quickly.

The heat of the fires also has the effect of baking and hardening the soil, meaning rain just washes off.

Originally published as Rivers of mud and rocks hit LA fire zones after powerful storm sweeps through California