LA deals with mudslides and rebuilding after fires
After three harrowing weeks fighting wildfires, Angelenos—residents of Los Angeles—could finally breathe easy in early February 2025. The worst wildfires to strike the city in recent memory had been extinguished, and the city could start thinking about how to rebuild the burned areas and prepare for the future.
But Mother Nature was not done with Los Angeles. You might remember hearing about the Santa Ana winds. These are hot, dry winds that blow in from the east. Now think of the exact opposite: wet air moving in from the Pacific Ocean. That’s called an atmospheric river.
And just days after the fires were brought under control, an atmospheric river dumped heavy rainfall on the LA area; some areas got six inches of rain in just three days. In some ways, this was a relief. It helped extinguish any remaining flames and cooled things off.
But it also brought danger. Remember what happened during the fires. Dry vegetation in hilly areas burned for weeks. The vegetation holds the topsoil in place on these steep hillsides. Many of the plants burned in the fires. So when heavy rains came, the ground became unstable.
What came next: mudslides. A mudslide is what happens when gravity pulls wet, loose soil downhill, like a fast-moving river of mud.
Mudslides are dangerous because they can happen with very little notice—and they’re very powerful. They can, and did, wipe away houses. One restaurant owner was cleaning up, getting ready to reopen after the fires. But a mudslide started nearby, and within minutes, the whole restaurant and its parking lot were buried in mud and debris.
Mudslides trapped people in buildings. One even carried a fire department vehicle off the road and into the ocean—with a firefighter inside. A part of the famous Pacific Coast Highway had to be closed. Area beaches were closed to swimmers because of the contamination from mudslides in the ocean.
So now, large parts of Los Angeles are on double cleanup duty: they have to deal with the aftermath of both fires and mudslides.
After the cleanup, America’s second-largest city will have to think about rebuilding. Wildfires have always been a danger to the area, but LA’s pleasant weather, booming economy, and relaxed vibe helped people put the danger out of their minds. That willful ignorance will not work any longer.
Prevention will be a big area of focus. Controlled burns can help clear flammable vegetation and reduce the intensity of future wildfires by about 15 percent, according to one study. But environmental policies can delay the process of clearing flammable vegetation. That may need to change.
Sparks from power lines are a common cause of fires. The area’s electrical grid needs an upgrade. Early-warning systems with advanced cameras and sensors are already strong, but they’ll likely get even better. AI can help identify areas at the highest risk of outbreaks.
So that’s prevention. But planning can also help contain damage from the fires that will inevitably break out in the future.
Start with building codes. New homes may be required to have even more fire-prevention systems, like non-combustible roofing and fire-resistant siding. But modern building codes aren’t the problem; they’re already pretty strong. The problem is that there are so many old houses.
Building new houses is very expensive in California, so many homes date back to a building boom in the 1950s. And those older homes are not as fire-resistant as newer homes are. California may finally take steps to make building new homes easier and more affordable—helping to ease both the housing shortage and the wildfire risk at the same time.
Where to build may be just as important as what to build. City planners are considering wildfire buffer zones to establish a clear boundary between wild vegetation and neighborhoods. Green belts and open space might be strategically placed to act as a break against future fires.
Many neighborhoods in Los Angeles have narrow, winding roads. And some neighborhoods have just a single way out. This is hazardous if people need to evacuate on short notice. New developments should have multiple ways in and out.
Technology can help guide decision-making in a crisis. The fire department published good real-time information to help residents understand the dangers and know when they should evacuate. But in a future crisis, residents would benefit from better maps and faster information presented in an easy-to-understand way.
Even with all of that, some people may decide to leave. California is experiencing more “weather whiplash” in recent years, with drought followed by heavy rainfall. The conditions that led to this year’s fires and mudslides are likely to get worse, not better, in the future. A recent poll said a quarter of people are considering moving away Los Angeles to avoid the effects of climate change.
Other people might not have any choice but to leave.
California has a law that limits the increase in home insurance rates from year to year. And while that seems nice, there has been an unintended consequence. Many insurance companies have stopped operating in the state because they can’t cover the true cost of insuring property there. The state government offers insurance, but some people can’t afford even that subsidized program. So for many who lost their homes in the fires, there was no insurance to help them rebuild. And they can’t afford to start over in such an expensive area.
Jeff’s take
Los Angeles has three big events coming up. The city will host some of the World Cup games in 2026, it will host the Super Bowl in 2027, and then the Summer Olympics in 2028. There will be pressure on the city and the state to show that they’re rebuilding better than before.
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