In the Los Angeles area, the burn scars that carry the highest risk are those from the Eaton and Palisades fires from January and the Bridge Fire from the fall.

Areas charred by last month's wildfires in Southern California now face a new threat from a powerful, but fast-moving Pacific storm. Here's what you need to know about this threat.

A massive amount of rainwater and mud was unleashed onto Pacific Coast Highway on Thursday, sweeping an L.A. Fire Department vehicle off the iconic coastal route and prompting an indefinite road closure roughly from Santa Monica to the Malibu Pier.

The damage comes as L.A. County endures an atmospheric river storm, bringing torrential rainfall and the possibility for “life-threatening” debris flows to a region weary from last month’s devastating firestorm. Clara Harter is a breaking news reporter at the Los Angeles Times. Previously, she covered politics and education for the L.A. Daily News. While at the Daily News, she published a series on fentanyl addiction that won a first-place investigative journalism award from the L.A. Press Club. Harter majored in political science and Middle Eastern studies at Columbia University. She loves surfing and, when not reporting, can most likely be found in the ocean. Mark E. Potts is the senior editor for video at the Los Angeles Times. A native of Enid, Okla., Potts graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a master’s degree in broadcast journalism. He has created and edited video for DreamWorks, YouTube, Microsoft, Sony and BET.