On Tuesday, October 14, California recently experienced heavy rains pouring throughout. This rain ended up triggering evacuation notices in wildfire-scare locations because of threatening landslides. The rain plummeted down and some homes were ordered to leave, other’s were warned. The rain also caused accidents from cars hydroplaning along the road.
A flash-flood warning was put into effect in the Santa Barbara County area, and the sheriff ordered a shelter-in-place, which means for everyone to seek immediate shelter inside. That area had experienced a wildfire a year prior and ‘was subject to debris overflow’ according to the New York Post.
The evacuation covered around 115 homes mostly in Pacific Palisades and Mandeville Canyon. Both had experienced wildfires a year prior. Wildfire makes the ground loose and unsteady, which can trigger a mudslide with heavy amounts of rain.
The mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, had a new’s conference on Monday night, explaining about the upcoming weather reports,”We’re very concerned about the weather” Bass said, continuing on about how they have emergency services on standby for Tuesday’s incoming storm.
The rain had also left many homes without power, and other areas were put out a warning due to rain even if they are not wildfire-scare areas. Some routes where closed, like Route 27, and there were warnings about heavy winds that could knock down tree’s and even power lines.
This is not the first time these area’s were affected by heavy rains after a wildfire. January, 2025, there were heavy wildfires spreading throughout LA county and San Diego. It destroyed more than 12,600 homes and were caused by heavy Santa Anna winds. They begun January 7 and burned through January 3.
Then, around January 27, rain began to fall down on the fire. What at first was a momentary release, it quickly turned into more problems. Mudslides came down from the hills and destroyed even more homes, and brought down trees, power lines, and more through it’s path.
Preparing for the worse, the county released the warnings and moved people out of the way before they could get seriously injuries or killed.
At Eleanor Roosevelt, student’s were affected by the heavy rains as well. While there was no mudslide warning or evacuation, student’s still had to trudged through inches of water at lunch and come back to class with dripping clothes. While it was freezing cold, and kids noses where turning pink, it was refreshing to see rain after weeks of heavy and hot weather. Kids were laughing as they were getting caught out in the rain, others were complaining about soaking wet clothes and shivering.
One junior student, Alan Garcia, explained how he spent his Tuesday lunch during the heavy downfall, “Yes, the rain was awesome,” Garcia said, “It was unusual to see it this time of year, though. I went outside and stood in the rain for a solid five minutes.”
The storms are not as heavy out in Riverside County, and many could still enjoy the fun of the rain outdoors. Luckily, the evacuation and warnings about the mudslide where lifted after Tuesday as the worse of the storm passed on. There was a report of one mudslide at Highland Park, closing down two lands. But for the most part, the storm did not cause as much damage as the one in January had.
