California braces for massive storm; evacuation warnings, closures in LA

California braces for massive storm; evacuation warnings, closures in LA

California braced for the arrival of a major Pacific storm on Wednesday, enacting road closures and issuing evacuation warnings in parts of Los Angeles and Malibu vulnerable to mudslides and debris flows.
The potent storm, which will put nearly the entire central U.S. at risk of dangerous weather later this week, will dump several feet of snow along the Sierra Nevada mountains and bring torrential rain to San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego. A smaller storm system moved over the state on Tuesday.
The incoming rain could fall at rates of an inch per hour, raising the risk of flooding, mudslides and debris flows, especially in areas charred by the wildfires that engulfed whole neighborhoods earlier this year.
The Los Angeles Fire Department issued evacuation warnings and orders for residents in the areas torched by the Palisades, Sunset and Hurst wildfires. Over two dozen neighborhoods in Malibu were also placed under evacuation warnings.