Residents of a Southern California mountain community near the Eaton Fire burn scar were digging out of roads submerged in sludge Friday after the strongest storm of the year swept through the area, unleashing debris flows. Dry weather returned to the region, but the risk of rock and mudslides on wildfire-scarred hillsides continued Friday since dangerous slides can strike even after rain stops, particularly in scorched areas where vegetation that helps keep soil anchored has burned away, per the AP.
Water, debris, and boulders rushed down the mountain in the city of Sierra Madre on Thursday night, trapping at least one car in the mud and damaging several home garages with mud and debris. Bulldozers on Friday were cleaning up the mud-covered streets in the city of 10,000 people. "It happened very quickly but it was very loud and you could even hear the ground or feel the ground shaking," Bull Duvall, who has lived in Sierra Madre for 28 years, said of the debris flows.
In Pacific Palisades on Thursday, one highway intersection was submerged in at least 3 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 last month's wildfires got stuck in traffic and fled on foot. Southern California reported 1 to 3 inches of rain in coastal areas and valleys and 3 to 6 inches across the coastal slopes on Thursday, said Mike Wofford, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
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