Home » With rain on the way, dread grows in fire-ravaged Palisades, Altadena and landslide-prone Rancho Palos Verdes – Jobsmaa.com

With rain on the way, dread grows in fire-ravaged Palisades, Altadena and landslide-prone Rancho Palos Verdes – Jobsmaa.com

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Michael Kessl's home survived the Palisade fire that destroyed most of his neighborhood, but something else is making him nervous.

the rain

Finally, there is precipitation In the forecast This weekend. Kessel worries about water coming through his skylight, which was removed during the firefight. He has it now, with rocks.

“All the contents of my house have never been evacuated and have been crammed into his cold, dark Pacific Palisade home,” said Kessel, 75, since the fire started on Jan. 7.

He keeps a close eye on the charred hillside behind his house, hoping old tree roots will keep it from sliding when wet.

About 40 miles to the south, Marion Hunter fears rain because of another disaster: landslides on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Due to ongoing landslides, part of the depression and the delightful drive are closed.

Part of Dauntless and Happy Drive is closed on June 21, 2024 in the Portuguese Bend neighborhood of Palos Verdes due to landslides and work to reroute streets and repair water supplies. According to one resident, two houses are red tagged in the neighborhood.

(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

Los Angeles County's irony this winter is this: it Dangerously dry. But recent disasters — the Palisades, Eaton and Hughes fires and the Peninsula landslides — have people fearing the effects of much-needed rain.

If there is no rain, the fire risk will increase. If it comes too fast, it can trigger landslides toxic flow Burn scars, and it could accelerate movement on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

There, back-to-back wet winters last year triggered intense land movement that destroyed roads, homes and Altered landscapes. With a lubricated floor change, sometimes, nine to 12 inches A weekUtility companies shut off electricity, gas and internet to hundreds of homes.

“LA needs rain, obviously. All of Southern California does. However, rain in any excess is a problem,” said Hunter, 75, whose home in Rancho Palos Verdes is unheated because of gas. Stop last summer.

Michael Anderson, a state climatologist with the California Department of Water Resources, calls it “kind of an uncomfortable dichotomy — we need the rain, but we want more friendly ocean layer to come.”

Much of Los Angeles County is in severe drought, According to US Drought Monitor.

From Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, the county recorded 0.19 inches of rain, Anderson said. In a typical year, 4.35 inches fall during that time.

This weekend's storms, though forecast to be mild and bring about an inch of rain, will be the fifth driest since records began in January 1896, Anderson said.

The current dry spell comes after back-to-back wet winters in 2023 and 2024. Atmospheric rivers trapped in Southland Record breaking rain It brought lush vegetation – which had dried up and become flammable even in the intense heat of last summer Corrupt records.

“You're getting seriously serious here,” Anderson said.

A small amount of rain is forecast for the region this weekend, mostly from Saturday afternoon into Monday evening, said Mike Wofford, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

Half an inch of rain or less is expected in most counties, but rainfall totals of up to 1.5 inches could be expected in the eastern San Gabriel Mountains.

Because rain is expected to be light, the risk of debris flows in burned areas is low, Wofford said. But there's a small chance that a thunderstorm will emerge directly over the scar—a worst-case scenario that can cause problems.

Mayor Karen Bass issued a Emergency Executive Order Protect water bodies ahead of rain to burn parts of Los Angeles on Tuesday.

Mudslides damaging both lanes of Mulholland 1/8 mile north of Skyline Drive.

Mudslides damaged both lanes of Mulholland Drive during a very wet rainy season in February 2024.

(Brian van der Bruck/Los Angeles Times)

He directed city crews to clear and clear vegetation, hillsides and roads, and clear debris and clear debris. The mayor's office said the city will install reinforced concrete barriers and sandbags to shore up affected areas and stop the flow of toxins.

The city will also work to divert stormwater into the sewer system to prevent firewater from flowing directly into the ocean.

In Pasadena and the neighboring unincorporated community of Altadena, the Eaton fire burned on hillsides more than two feet high, “so there was no root system” to hold soil and debris, said Lisa Tererian, a spokeswoman for the city of Pasadena.

“We worry about even light rain” on the burned foothills, Derterian wrote in an email, “and it's years of vigilance and preparedness every time it rains. [and] wind ”

Officials will distribute thousands Pre-filled sandbags In the coming days, he said.

Elizabeth Ritchie, a 59-year-old landscape designer, is watching the forecast with growing alarm.

Her rented home in Altadena was destroyed in the Eaton Fire. For two weeks, it was off-limits, blocked by local authorities and the National Guard.

When Richie returned First time This week, she salvaged some personal treasures from her blackened garden: her grandmother's flower pot. Stone Buddha statues of his mother. Some vintage, colorful glass fishing balls and wrought iron furniture.

A fallen street sign and destroyed homes on Marathon Road in Altadena on Jan. 14.

A fallen street sign and destroyed homes on Marathon Road in Altadena on Jan. 14.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

“Its beautiful things, all burnt, but still there,” he said, adding: “The rain brings a rush to get things out before it turns into a soupy mess.”

Richie had checked the garden, but hadn't searched the ruins of the house yet because she didn't have the proper safety gear.

She left on the night of January 7 because she was initially concerned about the wind, not the fire. On the way out, she sees a photo of her late mother sitting in a field of poppies — but nothing else.

“I'm still in shock about everything I've lost. Four generations of memories, all my children's memories: gone,” said Richie, who has two-year-old children.

Richie was desperate to comb through the house – before it got wet.

On the landslide-prone Palos Verdes Peninsula, Hunter said he's hoping for a gentle week of rain that won't inundate a body of water that could slide far into the ground and once again exacerbate his community's problems.

His home in the hard-hit Portuguese Bend neighborhood has minor cracks from the ground movement, but the past year has been challenging.

She said she and her husband made “a big investment” in solar power for their home after the power outage. Without gas, they occasionally use a fireplace to keep warm.

The telephone landline is switched off. Thus, her husband's pacemaker monitor is attached to it.

In recent weeks, land movement has slowed in Rancho Palos Verdes.

Local officials credit the dry winter and many of the new installations Deep de-watering wellsThis has released millions of gallons of groundwater driving the region's landslide movement.

But as much as she worries about water, Hunter is equally concerned about fire.

“We have a lot of foliage, a lot of trees … a lot of dry brush,” he said. “Therefore, in every bad thing there is good. and vice versa. ”

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