Two Major Malibu Roads To Close For Storm

Malibu Canyon Road – open until 6 tonight.

Pacific Coast Highway – closed to all traffic (including passes) at noon.

Las Flores Canyon Rd – closed along with PCH.

Kanan Dume – OPEN.

PCH to Oxnard – OPEN watch for sharp rocks near Pt Mugu.

Route 23 corridor (Encinal / Decker / Westlake) – OPEN.

Tonight’s Storm Will Pass Quickly, But Hard Rain Is Going To Fall

The latest radar and satellite data has prompted the national Weather Service to back off a bit on this approaching storm’s forecast.

The rain could still fall at a rate of more than one inch per hour.

But it’s going to blow through faster … meaning the total anmloint of rain won’t be quite as much as first predicted.

There is a high chance of rainfall rates exceeding 0.75 inch which is favorable to create flooding in urban areas and cause significant debris flow on recent burn scars. 

The sheriff’s office has evacuated 17 houses in the Franklin Fire burn zone.  These are in the Serra Estates area and they lay in landslide/mudflow danger zones.   

All other houses in the Malibu burn zones are in evacuation warning zones.

A strong flow of moisture coming in over the ocean will hit a front of much colder air aloft tonight. 

That could trigger very heavy rain … with rates up to an inch per hour possible, especially along the south facing slopes.

The warm rain below and cola air above , and convection on top of that could briefly push those rates even higher.

“The good news is that the cold front is moving quite fast.  

“The duration of the steady heavy rain is only expected to be around 6 hours.”

But those hours will be enough to create some significant flooding with major impacts outside the burn areas.

In the hillsides with fire debris … start making preparations immediately for possible major debris flows. 

Some evacuation routes will be closed. 

At noon today … all traffic will be prohibited to enter the PCH burn zone … between Checkpoint Charlie at Carbon Beach Terrace and Chautauqua Blvd.

No passes allowed … and this includes las Flores canyon … the back way to Topanga Canyon from the beach.

Malibu Canyon Rd will be closed to all traffic – no passes allowed – tonight at 6pm.  Repeat: no passes thru the canyon.  

If that amount of rain falls … Caltrans has legitimate fears that flash flooding will once again wash debris onto the highway.  Repeat: no passes thru the canyon or on PCH.

Webster School will not be in attendance tomorrow, they are in the evacuation zone.  Their teachers and students will be on computers.   

Malibu Elementary School on Point Dume will be on early dismissal: 12:45pm Wed.

Malibu Middle and Malibu High will be on early dismissal: 1:35pm.

Aftershocks Rattled Malibu Again Tuesday Night

Malibu continues to experience noticeable aftershocks … as the Decker Canyon earthquake sequence rattles on.

Last night at 11:17 … a magnitude 2.4 quake hit.

Epicenter 9 miles beneath the surface… with the center of energy somewhere below Decker  Canyon … northwest of Trancas.

On Monday … there was a magnitude 2.2 at 9:14 a-m … and a magnitude 2.6 quake … at 11:49.

These all are epicentered in about the same place as the magnitude 4.1 quake last Sunday.

No damage … too small. 

Heal The Bay Frets About Really Bad Stuff In Eastern Malibu Ocean

The ocean off of eastern Malibu is chock full of metal … nails … wood … really dangerous stuff washing out of the fire zone and into the surf.

But it;’s what you can’t readily see that is worrisome. 

Heal The Bay tested water just off the burn zone.

This was done just after the last big rain storms … in late January.

Aluminum, iron, selenium, and manganese were elevated above drinking water standards, sometimes as much as 10x the drinking water limit.

That’s only bad if you were to drink the water … but it can harm marine life like fish.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are chemicals found is burned materials and gasoline.

These PAHs were detected at unsafe levels at Will Rogers State Beach and Topanga Beach.

But they were not detected at other sites further away from the fire.

The open septic tanks … leaking human sewage into the bay … may have caused the elevated phosphorus levels that were detected. 

This has created a persistent brown foam along the shoreline … and it and increases the risk of algae blooms.

Water clarity declined significantly after rain from Surfrider Beach down to at least Dockweiler Beach, indicating wildfire runoff spread beyond the burn zone. 

Turbidity levels were consistently good at Paradise Cove … west of the burn zone … and at Malaga Cove at the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

The heavy rain that will fall in the next three storms will likely exacerbate the pollution problem in Malibu … and possibly spread it down the coast. 

The Heal The Bay initial test findings show elevated heavy metals, bacteria, nutrients, and other organic compounds, along with a decline in water clarity.

All of this indicates that wildfire runoff does pose a risk to human and ecological health.

And that contamination is traveling beyond the immediate burn zone.

Malibu School Divorce At Critical Juncture, Again

The Malibu school district divorce action against Santa Monica is at a critical junction … and the Palisades Fire hit at that exact time.

Three months ago .. the City of Malibu introduced a new feasibility study on breaking Malibu out of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District.

It claimed that Malibu’s lucrative property tax revenues meant that the proposed Malibu Unified School District meets th intent of state law … which requires 15 hundred students for a new district.

Malibu has about 11 hundred kids enrolled.

But the city says Malibu would “substantially meet the intent” of the criteria because its lucrative property tax revenues would make the district solvent … and Malibu does not rely on state aid based on attendance. 

Malibu also argues that student enrollment may be increased via City Council initiatives to increase housing stock to young families …. rebuilt houses from the 2018 Woolsey Fire coming on line … and improved campuses attracting “families that have left the district due to dissatisfaction with SMMUSD.”

The LA County agency reviewing the Malibu request had 120 days to consider it … but the fire has delayed that. 

The county committee will now have those actions at its April meeting.

The county committee vote is strictly advisory … and it’s up tot he state Board of Education to act.

That might take four years to even get to the state boards agenda. 

A special state bill night be required to plead Malibu’s case in the Legislature. 

The Malibu city Council has a one hour meeting with its lawyer scheduled for today at 10 in the morning… To talk about the divorce.

Council Session At Midday On Fire Rebuilds

At 11 this morning, the city council will begin public hearings on the final language of its major overhaul of city rules for rebuilding fire-damaged houses. 

The idea is to take advantage of the governor’s executive order removing the Coastal Commission from regulating fire rebuilds … for the 700 houses lost to the palisades Fire. 

And … to extend as much of that benefit as possible to people who lost their houses to the Broad Fore and the Franklin Fire … which hit in late 2024 … and which are not covered by the governor’s fire amnesty. 

Some controversy has arisen over the federal flood maps … that may require some houses to have their ground floors further up above wave uprush zones.

The governor wants houses to be rebuilt in a like for like size … but there are some problems with putting an exact replica on top of a higher platform … which could result in bulky new buildings towering over PCH. 

That hearing begins at 11. 

Michel Shane Asks For Your Help To Prevent Emily Shane Killer’s Release

We have a correction to make. 

The killer of Emily Shane is not going to be released from prison right away.

Our source for the story … the girl’s father … says he was misinformed about the possible pending release of the man who intentionally mowed down his child … at Point Dume … in 2010. 

Michel Shane has apologized to the Malibu community ,,,, 

He says that when he received notice of the governor’s decision to allow the parole case to proceed ….  He incorrectly believed he had no further recourse and that the killer’s parole was being “rubber-stamped.” 

Says Shane … “I was wrong … and I sincerely apologize for the confusion.”

Emily’s case is being referred to the full commission of the Board of Parole Hearings next Wednesday.

Shane tells us the Wednesday parole hearing is an opportunity for the public to be heard.

A community outcry could keep the killer … Sina Khankhanian … impriosned. Michel Shane says the killer has documented anger issues and addiction history.

Shane is asking Malibu residents to email letters of opposition to the parole board … and to sign up to speak in opposition to the killer’s release. 

The public hearing will be next Wednesday.

We have addresses and other links posted on the KBUU Newswire later today. 

**Submit a written statement** to [email protected] before March 19

   * Reference: Sina Khankhanian, CDCR#AL8228

**Speak at the meeting** (2-minute limit):

   * Phone: (916) 701-9994, Conference ID: 520 739 063#

   * Video: https://tinyurl.com/BPHExecutiveBoardMeeting

   * In-person: 1515 K Street, Suite 550, Sacramento, CA

   * **Required:** Submit speaker form by March 19: [Form Link in comment

   * Select date (March 19, 2025) and “En Banc” sectio

Says Shane … the commissioners track every letter and comment. Your voice truly matters in this process.

Shane is apologizing for his previous misunderstanding … but says this is Malibu’s chance to make a difference.

Malibu Woman And Former RFK2 VP Candidate Funding Karen Bass Recall

A Malibu woman is funding the recall effort against Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. 

Nicole Shanahan was at least at one time was a Point Dume homeowner … 

She is the only donor behind the  “Recall Karen Bass Committee” … according to a statement on its website.

Shanahan has been looking for a political cause … after her vice presidential campaign with Robert F. Kennedy Junior flopped. 

Shanahan used to be a Silicon Valley lawyer.

She gave RFK Junior 15 million dollars for his presidential campaign … 

The New York Times reports she has a fortune in the realm of $1 billion that stems largely from her divorce settlement with Sergey Brin, the co-founder of Google. 

Karen Bass has come under pressure for being out of the country when the January fire hurricane was developing.