KBUU Newswire Tues Jan 14 – Day 67 – Mud Threatens 5 Houses In Malibu West – PCH Closed West of matador Beach

This is KBUU News – Day 67 – The Headlines:

• =   Flood Warning issued … but the heaviest rain is still offshore.
• =   Big concern along Trancas Creek … in Malibu West … as debris basins fill … and are emptied.
• =   Three occupied houses in Malibu West … and two vacant ones … get mandatory evacuation orders.
• =   PCH closed to east and west traffic from Decker Canyon Road all the way into the Ventura County strawberry fields. [UPDATE 12:40pm: road closure moved west to Decker Canyon Rd. This is fluid and changing as roads reopen.]

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Malibu’s Only Local Daily News … the Tuesday edition … from Radio Malibu  …. F-M 99 point 1 K B U U. Good morning … I’m Hans Laetz reporting.

Our transmitter and web feed are both up today,

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LA County fire …  in conjunction with the county flood experts and the city … have  issued mandatory evacuation orders for three occupied and two burned-out houses in the Malibu West subdivision.

Mud and dirt in a pair of drainage basins cannot be removed … there is no access roads to the basins above La Sonora and Rayo del Sol.

Two occupied houses on La Sonora … and one house on Rayo Del Sol …

2 other houses on Paseo Canyon . being evacuated … are believed to already be burned down…

On Friday … one house appeared to have mud flow into its yard … from the last last rain.

There are nervous eyes are on Trancas Creek today…and the mountains next to the subdivision.

The debris dams at the north end of the Malibu West subdivision filled up over the weekend.

These are flood control structures designed to catch mud and tree debris … before it enters the flood control channel in Malibu West.

Other catch basins sit at the base of the mountain at the east side of the subdivision.

Gravel and mud filled many of the debris basins over last week …

County crews removed truckload after truckload of mud on Sunday … and dumped it on a temporary holding area at the west end of the Zuma Beach parking lot.

The U S Geologic Survey mudflow prediction maps put many of the Malibu West homes in the path of flooding or mud in a 50 year flood.

That is a rainstorm with intensity that can be expected to arrive once every 50 years.

Intense rain is predicted from four storms thus week.

The questions will be … how much rain??? how much debris ??? and how fact can the debris removal trucks operate???

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Pacific Coast Highway has numerous mudflows on it west of Malibu.

PCH is now closed east and westbound in the Point Mugu … east past Neptunes Net … all the way over to El Matador Beach.

PCH has mud on it in several places in that 10 mile stretch of road.

Residents who have ID may be able to talk their way past the roadblock at the corner of Broad Beach Road west.  [UPDATE 12:40pm: road closure moved west to Decker Canyon Rd. This is fluid and changing as roads reopen.]

People who live along Pacific Coast Highway in western malibu … or near county line beach … residents may or may not be at times allowed to proceed west to their residences.

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At 5:30 this morning … a heavy rain band moved into Malibu.

Heavy rain fell … at about a quarter inch per hour … for a short time.

Since then … rain been off and on.

Rainfall totals as of noon include .94 inches at Big Rock.

.79 inches at malibu Civic Center.

1.2 inches at KBUU at Trancas.

and .82 inches in Decker Canyon.

The National Weather Service in Oxnard has issued a pair of Urban and Small Stream Flood Advisories for the Malibu area.

At 632 AM PST, National Weather Service Doppler radar and automated rain gauges indicated moderate rain … falling at rates of between 0.10 and 0.25 inch per hour was being observed.

A second .. similar storm his Malibu at 10:45.

Those warnings all expired at 12:15 this afternoon.

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County and city officials are urging people to open their electric gates … as even one inch of mud flow accumulation can stop a gate.

And people living in the Santa Monica Mountains should get ready to be isolated.

Canyon roads … the sheriff says … could be blocked for 7 to 10 days.

They are urging people who live in the canyons or mountains to either leave now … or prepare to be isolated for a long time.

The forecast is for a half inch per hour … with 2 and a half inches total today.

If a thunderstorm or rain squall hits … that rate could increase.

And that is far above the threshold to trigger mudflow.

The series of Pacific storms lined up and heading our way has the potential to bring periods of significant rainfall to Malibu through next Thursday.

These clouds will also be blowing in from the south as the front comes down from the west.

That will being orographic rainfall enhancement to Malibu … warm wet clouds hit coastal mountains … hit cold air … water falls out of clouds as the push up and over.

Add it all up … between 3 and 6 inches will be possible across much of Southern California tonight through Thursday … but Malibu could see more than that.

Soil conditions … even outside the Woolsey Burn Area … could approach saturation levels later next week, with significant water flow into the canyons.

Creeks and small canyons could flood during times of heavier rainfall.

And there will be an increased threat of rockslides and mudslides in canyon roadways, even outside the Woolsey Burn Area … but also outside the burn areas.

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You are listening to the latest news from Radio Malibu … F-M 99 point 1 K B U U.  ((( time  ))))

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Over the two months since the wildfires inFederal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) have approved more than $347 million in grants and low-interest disaster loans to assist survivors in their recovery.

Thats both in Paradise and the Malibu area.

Cal OES … the governor’s Office of Emergency Services … is now handing over the disaster response to CalRecycle…

And Cal Recycle is now in charge  of Phase 2 operations.

That began with individual site assessment/documentation and the removal of any remaining asbestos.

That is the yellow tagging operation … which is almost finished.

Removal of ash, wildfire debris, and contaminated soil in Malibu is set to begin the week of January 28.

That’s in two weeks.

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Nearly 255,000 acres of California was burned by the three mid-November wildfires: the Hill and Woolsey fires in Los Angeles and Ventura counties … plus the massive Camp Fire in Butte County … 400 miles north of us.

Lest we forget … virtually the entire town of Paradise in Butte County was burned to the ground.  

More than 15,000 California families lost their homes and everything in them; more than 6,200 other structures were destroyed.

85 percent of the damage was up north.

But 16 hundred of those structures were in Malibu … the Santa Monica Mountains and the 101 corridor. 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and California Department of Toxic Substances Control continue to lead recovery efforts in surveying, collecting and disposing of household hazardous waste. This is Phase 1 of the debris removal process at affected properties within the burn footprints in Butte County (including the Town of Paradise), Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

To date … more than 1,200 of the 1,300 plus parcels in Los Angeles County have been yellow tagged .… that is … inspected and cleared of hazmat.

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Traffic … in 65 seconds … first …

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Weather for the Malibu ….

A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 51.

((((  Rain … heavy at times    )))) …  with wind gusts up to 25 miles per hour this afternoon.

Rain is in the forecast until Friday.

Highs 61 … lows 53. Today:

Rain. High near 61. East northeast wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%.

Tonight

Rain. Low around 53. East southeast wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Tuesday

Rain. High near 61. Southeast wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%.

Tuesday Night

Rain. Low around 55. East southeast wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%.

Wednesday

Rain likely. Cloudy, with a high near 62. East northeast wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

Wednesday Night

Rain. Low around 54. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Thursday

Rain. High near 62. Chance of precipitation is 90%.