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California faces flood and landslide risk after wildfire devastation

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California faces flood and landslide risk after wildfire devastation


The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a flood watch for recently burned areas in Southern California from Sunday at 4 p.m. to Monday at 4 p.m.

The watch covers several major burn scars, including the Eaton, Palisades, Franklin, Hughes, and Bridge fire areas, amid increasing concern about potential debris flows.

Newsweek has reached out to the NWS via email for comment on Saturday afternoon.

Why It Matters

Southern California faces its first significant rain of the winter following a series of devastating wildfires that have left the region vulnerable to flooding.

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The Palisades fire, now 81 percent contained, has burned more than 23,400 acres, destroyed 6,809 structures and claimed 11 lives.

The Eaton fire has proven even more destructive, burning over 14,000 acres, destroying 9,418 structures, and resulting in 17 fatalities despite reaching 95 percent containment.

The Hughes fire, while smaller at 10,400 acres and 87 percent containment, adds to the region’s vulnerable burn areas.

Stock image: Vehicles travel toward downtown as rain continues to fall during the morning commute as a powerful long-duration atmospheric river storm impacts Southern California on February 6, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.

What To Know

According to the NWS, rainfall totals will vary significantly across the region, with mountain areas receiving up to two inches while other areas may see as little as a quarter inch.

Regular rainfall rates will typically range from one-tenth to one-quarter inch per hour, though isolated areas could experience rates up to three-quarters of an inch per hour—sufficient to trigger debris flows in burn areas.

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The probability of significant flash flooding and debris flows in the most vulnerable areas has doubled from the initial forecast, now standing at 10 percent to 20 percent.

Additional hazards include possible thunderstorms, small hail, and wind gusts reaching 60 mph in the Antelope Valley foothills.

What Is Debris Flow?

Debris flows represent the most dangerous form of landslides, consisting of powerful mixtures of mud, rocks, boulders, trees, and sometimes even homes or vehicles, according to the NWS.

While often called mudslides or mudflows, debris flows pose a unique threat due to their devastating power. They can occur during intense rainfall after wildfires, requiring only a brief period of heavy rain—about half an inch in an hour—rather than prolonged precipitation.

Their unpredictable nature and rapid speed make them particularly hazardous, as they can outpace both pedestrians and vehicles.

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Traditional protective measures like sandbags and retaining walls prove ineffective against these powerful flows, making evacuation the only reliable safety measure.

What People Are Saying

National Weather Service Office in Oxnard: “The threat is high enough to prepare for the worst-case scenario.”

Ryan Kittell, National Weather Service Meteorologist told the LA Times: “They’re some of the freshest burn scars. They’re close to communities and/or vulnerable infrastructure. And the orientation of the terrain would favor those areas, in particular, having the higher chances, the higher potentials, for those higher totals and rainfall intensities.”

Alex Tardy, National Weather Service San Diego Meteorologist: “This is a slow-moving storm, so it’s going to be stubborn. It’s going to hang around. It’s going to send waves of moisture through Monday. So, I think that’s really going to add up to significant rain and snow.”

A low-pressure system from the north will bring colder temperatures and rain chances to southern California as early as Saturday afternoon, lasting into Monday. Credit: NWS

What Happens Next

The NWS urges residents to avoid recently burned areas during the high-risk period, particularly from Sunday afternoon through Monday.

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Emergency preparedness recommendations include maintaining adequate supplies in case of road access disruption.



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All lanes reopen on 5 Freeway in Oceanside after officer-involved shooting forces closure

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All lanes reopen on 5 Freeway in Oceanside after officer-involved shooting forces closure


OCEANSIDE, Calif. (KABC) — Hours after an officer-involved shooting prompted the full closure of the 5 Freeway in Oceanside, all lanes were reopened Saturday afternoon as the investigation continues.

“The 5 is closed in both directions between Oceanside and the Orange County border while police investigate a shooting,” Caltrans said in a social media post at 9:39 a.m., adding that drivers should use the 15 Freeway as an alternative route.

The Buena Park Police Department said its officers attempted to pull over a car for vehicle code violations just before 1 p.m. in the area of La Palma Avenue and San Marino Drive, but the car failed to stop and a pursuit ensued.

“At 1:05 a.m. we asked CHP to take over the pursuit. They did but requested our K-9 unit stay in the pursuit,” Buena Park police said in a statement.

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Police said that at 2:10 a.m., the suspect vehicle was brought to a stop and then an officer-involved shooting occurred. It was not immediately known what led to the shooting.

A SigAlert was issued shortly after 2:30 a.m. between Harbor Drive in Oceanside and Christianitos Road in San Clemente, according to the California Highway Patrol.

As several lanes were reopened hours later, the Highway Patrol urged motorists to continue to use caution and watch for personnel in the area.

The investigation is ongoing.


Copyright © 2025 KABC Television, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Chris Bell scores 21, sparks California to 91-67 victory over Sacramento State

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Chris Bell scores 21, sparks California to 91-67 victory over Sacramento State


BERKELEY, Calif. — – Chris Bell scored 17 of his 21 points in the first half and California cruised to a 91-67 victory over Sacramento State on Friday night in a campus game of the Empire Classic.

Bell and Justin Pippen combined for 29 points to help California take a 47-33 lead into the break. Bell sank 6 of 8 shots with three 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes.

John Camden’s 3-pointer capped an 11-2 run to begin the second half and the Golden Bears (5-1) were never threatened. Cal took its biggest lead at 81-47 on a 3-pointer by Camden with nine minutes left to play.

Pippen finished with 16 points and five assists. Dai Dai Ames also scored 16 and Camden totaled 14 points, five rebounds and five assists.

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Brandon Gardner hit 4 of 5 from 3-point range and scored 19 to lead the Hornets (3-4). Mark Lavrenov had 14 points and Prophet Johnson notched his fifth double-double of the young season with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

The Golden Bears shot 50.8% overall and made 15 of 38 from beyond the arc (39.5%).

Sac State made only 18 of 67 shots (26.9%) overall, including 7 of 24 from distance. The Hornets made 24 of 30 free throws, while Cal sank 10 of 19.

—— Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketballbr/]

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‘Toxic’: California ex-police chief tells of colleagues’ racist harassment campaign

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‘Toxic’: California ex-police chief tells of colleagues’ racist harassment campaign


The embattled former police chief of Vallejo, a San Francisco Bay Area city that has attracted national attention over police violence, has said that he endured a steady procession of racist remarks from colleagues and online harassment and threats that ultimately led him to resign.

By the time Chief Shawny Williams tendered his resignation in 2022, he said he had received a slew of threats – at his office, at his home, and in his email inbox. Most demanded he step down. But even after resigning, the threats still came by mail to his home and a second property he owned outside the state.

“They were hostile, toxic,” Williams testified in a deposition on Wednesday. “I had safety concerns.”

Williams made the statements as part of a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Vallejo police department brought by Deyana Jenkins, whom officers pulled from a car and tased during a traffic stop in 2019. The incident occurred months after six Vallejo police officers shot her uncle, Willie McCoy, a 20-year-old rapper, 55 times while he was asleep in his car. The killing attracted widespread attention and thrust a spotlight on the department’s use of force.

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The deposition, first reported by the Vallejo Sun, offers a window into what Williams describes as a pattern of hostile, threatening and retaliatory behavior that ended his brief attempt to impose accountability on a department known nationally for unchecked violence and resistance to reform.

Vallejo police officers have repeatedly drawn concern over their practices, perhaps most notoriously for the ritual of “badge bending”, in which officers reportedly fold back a tip on their badges after killing someone on duty.

Williams took over the department in 2019 with a mandate to reform it. His three-year stint coincided with a national reckoning over police violence, sparked by nationwide protests over the 2020 murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

But Williams said he experienced harsh backlash for his efforts to impose accountability on the department’s use of force.

“He was our first Black police chief in a department that’s always been known as a racist police department,” Melissa Nold, the lawyer representing Jenkins in the federal case, told the Guardian. “To hear that he was run off because he was doing reform and discipline – that’s very concerning. It doesn’t seem like it should be possible that the people being reformed have that much power.”

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In his deposition, Williams said a colleague made several disturbing statements, including: “This Black Jesus can’t save us.”

He described “racial hostilities or comments” made to him by a former police captain. Williams also said the city attorney threatened him, but did not describe how.

The Vallejo police department did not immediately respond to a Guardian request for comment.

Williams also received several anonymous threats, through the post and online. Three weeks before resigning in October of 2022, he received a “Halloween card threat” that said “quit today” and emitted a deafening screech that “filled the hallway” and kept blaring until the battery ran out.

A secretary opened the letter. When Williams heard it he “actually thought it was some kind of domestic violence occurring outside the building because it was so loud”.

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Williams also said that he received anonymous threats, after an officer who shot an unarmed 22-year-old in 2020 later rejoined the police department.

Officer Jarrett Tonn shot and killed Sean Monterrosa after an alleged looting incident at a Walgreens during a George Floyd-inspired protest. Williams dismissed Tonn after the shooting.

But an arbitrator reinstated Tonn in 2023, after Williams left the force. Tonn was promoted to sergeant in September of this year, according to the Vallejo Sun. Afterwards, Williams said he received messages that said “some bad things were coming”.

Williams said he asked the department to investigate the threats and raised concerns to city manager Mike Malone. But the city failed to act, and Malone appeared uninterested in helping him, Williams testified.

“One of the things that I guess exacerbated my concerns was [Malone’s] statement that this is not going to stop – or ‘They’re not going to stop until I fire you or you quit,’” Williams said in the deposition. “And he said that over half a dozen times.”

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By “they”, Williams said the city manager was referring to the Vallejo Police Officers’ Association (VPAO), which serves as the bargaining unit for all ranks of police officer except the chief in its negotiations with the city. The VPOA did not immediately respond to a Guardian request for comment.

“My resignation was a result of a pattern of constructive termination hostility,” Williams testified. “There was racial animus, retaliatory things that were happening that just made it unbearable or impossible for me to perform my duties in a safe environment.”



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