Firefighters from Washington state help a woman and her friends sift through the remains of her family home in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles. Photographer: Jill Connelly/Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — Parched Los Angeles is getting its first rains in months; wet weather that’s helping battle wildfires but also introducing the risk of landslides.

Rainfall amounts have ranged from a few hundredths of an inch to almost 2 inches (5 centimeters) over 12 hours on Sun., Jan. 26, 2025, according to a late evening advisory from the National Weather Service. Showers were expected to be heaviest overnight into Monday, the forecaster added.

Rain will help put out fires that are still burning and will make it harder for any new ones to start, but if the downfall gets much heavier, the seared hillsides that have lost vegetation are at risk of collapse. There’s a flood watch in place for Los Angeles County and several roads were closed due to mudflows.

“Our main concern is with the recent burn areas,” Joe Sirard, a meteorologist with the weather service in Los Angeles, said Sunday by phone. “It won’t take much over the fresh burn areas to trigger mud and debris flows.”

A flood watch for the burn areas of Los Angeles County is in place through Monday afternoon, and may get upgraded to a flood warning if rainfall gets heavier. This is the first major rainfall for LA since April.

The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning Sunday for Malibu — including burn scars from December’s Franklin Fire, and the western portion of the Palisades Fire — but it was canceled just before 10 p.m. local time.

Roads closed

A section of the Pacific Coast Highway west of Topanga Canyon Boulevard was shut due to mudflows, according to the California Department of Transportation. Near the Woodland Hills neighborhood to the north, four vehicles were stuck in mud and had to be towed, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

A segment of Interstate 5, parts of which were shut last week due to the Hughes Fire, was closed overnight due to snow while the California Highway Patrol escorted vehicles across the Grapevine summit under snowy conditions.

The parched hills have helped fuel a series of deadly wildfires that have destroyed thousands of homes and businesses in what’s become one of the worst natural disasters in modern US history. Firefighters are making progress as they continue to battle blazes across the region.

The Palisades Fire that has charred more than 23,000 acres is 90% contained, according to the California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection, and the Eaton Fire that scorched the community of Altadena is 98% contained. The two blazes destroyed more than 16,000 structures. So far, there are 28 confirmed deaths since the flames erupted during strong winds on Jan. 7.

Statewide property value issues

Home values throughout California could face downward pressure following the Los Angeles-area wildfires as increases in insurance premiums exacerbate the state’s affordability crisis, S&P Global Ratings said.

Property owners may struggle to secure adequate insurance, increasing risk and lowering a home’s perceived value across California, especially in disaster-prone or high-risk areas, according to the report released Friday.

“This will be problematic for a state that has already been experiencing muted population growth as many people leave for more tax-friendly affordable places to reside,” S&P analysts led by Patricia A. Kwan wrote in the report.

High home prices, elevated interest rates, property taxes and insurance costs have put home ownership out of reach for many Californians. Only 16% of households in the state could afford to purchase the median-priced home in the third-quarter of 2024, the most recent data available, according to the California Association of Realtors. In Los Angeles County, only 11% of households could afford the median monthly $5,940 installment after a 20% downpayment.

The median single-family home price in Los Angeles County climbed 6.9% in 2024 to $912,370 in December, the Realtors group reported. Statewide, the median single-family home price rose 5% to $861,020.

Despite potential losses in municipal revenue that could result from the fires, the ratings firm said that California’s credit strength is resilient and that the company’s outlook on the state remains stable.

“We believe that California’s extraordinarily strong economy and tax base will be resilient through this disaster,” the analysts wrote. “We expect federal funds will cover a significant share of the cleanup and recovery costs, which will alleviate short-term expenditure pressure.”

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