Flooding, mudslides and debris flows caused by the heaviest rain in Los Angeles and southern California in a year shut Pacific Coast Highway from approximately Santa Monica to the Malibu Pier.

Days after an atmospheric river brought record-setting rainfall to California, the state is in the crosshairs of another rainy storm system.

Southern California mountain communities are concerned over land and mudslide dangers as a winter storm arrives this week. Recent burn scar areas pose heightened threats, like the nearly 44,000 acres of scorched land from the Line Fire in San Bernardino County that ignited in September 2024.

Three days of drenching rain, flooding and mudslides have forced evacuations and road closures, including a portion of the Pacific Coast Highway from Malibu and Pacific Palisades. The Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles,

An atmospheric river is expected to bring torrential rain to California this week, threatening parts of the state with flash floods and mudslides.

A Los Angeles Fire Department vehicle with a member inside was swept into the ocean by a heavy mudslide during the rain in Malibu.

Debris flows brought on by the strongest atmospheric river of the season swept a car off a southern California highway and into the ocean and left roads submerged in sludge

A swift debris flow swept a Los Angeles Fire Department vehicle off the Pacific Coast Highway and into the ocean as heavy rain fell across Southern California on Thursday, creating deluges of water and mud on roads at the bottom of hillsides left barren by recent wildfires.

The damage comes as L.A. County endures an atmospheric river storm, bringing torrential rainfall and the possibility for “life-threatening” debris flows to a region weary from last month’s devastating firestorm. Clara Harter is a breaking news reporter at the Los Angeles Times. Previously, she covered politics and education for the L.A. Daily News. While at the Daily News, she published a series on fentanyl addiction that won a first-place investigative journalism award from the L.A. Press Club. Harter majored in political science and Middle Eastern studies at Columbia University. She loves surfing and, when not reporting, can most likely be found in the ocean. Mark E. Potts is the senior editor for video at the Los Angeles Times. A native of Enid, Okla., Potts graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a master’s degree in broadcast journalism. He has created and edited video for DreamWorks, YouTube, Microsoft, Sony and BET.