Fire-torn Orange County braces for upcoming storms

ANAHEIM, Calif. (KABC) -- Next week's forecasted storms could bring flooding and mudslides to fire-torn Orange County, and city and county officials are working together to ensure the area is prepared.

Clean up was well underway in Anaheim Hills on Friday. Anaheim's public works team was out, sucking the debris out of storm drains to prep for the rain.

The team also uses a robotic camera inside the drain to make sure water is flowing.

"We can't control how much rain we get, but we can control our preparedness and what we do to set ourselves up to prepare for any amount of rain we see," said Erin Ryan of the city of Anaheim.

The city is working closely with Orange County Public Works to protect the areas burned by the Canyon Fire 2.

The October fire scorched more than 9,200 acres, including land at some regional parks.

"This is a post-fire, burn-scar areas, these are thousands of acres that are prone to mudslides and debris flow if heavy rains come our way," said Shannon Widor of Public Works.

The county and city have laid down several acres of hydro mulch, placed thousands of gravel bags to block debris flow and have told residents to be prepared.

The flames came up to Robert Hernandez's fence line, but he said he's more concerned about the homes down the hill.

"They have done some mitigation down further at the bottom, for those hills that are below us," he said.

Sandbags are being provided in many cities, and public works teams are urging people to stay informed and watch for alerts when the storm reaches Orange County.

"We're already keeping a watchful eye on the weather forecast," Hernandez said. "We do have crews that will work around the clock once the rain does start falling."