SoCal communities left with mud, damage after days of wet weather

Evacuation warnings and orders are in place for Los Angeles County ahead of the storm, the recent burn areas like the Palisades and Eaton fire zones.

Los Angeles County officials hosted a press conference Tuesday morning, urging residents to follow any warnings and orders and to leave early if they've been told to evacuate.

"When we're talking about evacuation orders, that means that we have determined, as a team, primarily Public Works, that there's an immediate danger, or a potential immediate danger, to your safety and the safety of your family," said L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna. "If we're talking about evacuation warnings, that's a potential warning. You need to pay attention to both."

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna speaks at a news conference on Tuesday, December 23, as evacuation warnings and orders were issued ahead of a powerful Christmas week storm.

Mark Pestrella, the director of L.A. County Public Works, said there's going to be a lot of rain over a short period of time, so many areas are being closely monitored.

"We haven't had an atmospheric event like this in some time, probably more than four or five years now," he said. "These events do produce high quantities of water ... so the basin is going to attempt to drain a lot of water in a short period of time."

Pestrella said the heaviest rain is expected Tuesday night through Wednesday morning and again on Christmas Day.

"We've identified over the last year vulnerable properties ... some 383 properties are considered needing evacuation," he said when discussing evacuation warnings and orders. "We also have an additional 200 orders going out to city areas."

Director of Los Angeles County Public Works Mark Pestrella speaks at a news conference on Tuesday, December 23, as evacuation warnings and orders were issued ahead of a powerful Christmas week storm.

A flood watch will be in effect from Tuesday afternoon through Thursday evening for much of the county, with mud and debris flows possible across foothill and mountain areas, including recent burn scars, according to the National Weather Service.

The city of Los Angeles issued evacuation warnings that will be in effect from 11 a.m. Tuesday through 11 p.m. Thursday for residents of Pacific Palisades and Mandeville Canyon near the Palisades Fire, and south of Runyon Canyon near the Sunset Fire area.

City News Service, Inc. contributed to this report.

If you're traveling, be sure to watch out for any delays due to weather.

If you're traveling, be sure to watch out for any delays due to weather.

More than 8 million Americans are expected to take flights Tuesday, including close to a million people flying out of Southern California airports. A storm is expected to arrive later in the afternoon and a cross- country storm is set to bring snow to the northeast, including New York City and Boston.

"We already missed our flight," said one traveler who spoke with Eyewitness News. "We arrived too late. We missed the check-in time, so we were supposed to come two hours ahead of time and we didn't at all. So we missed the cut off time to check our bags, and now I'm on hold with United to see if we can book another flight."

For others, it was a different story.

"I'll be honest, it wasn't so bad," said Rebecca Hedwat. "Honestly! We travel every year around this time, and this is probably the best for me. We left also super early."

So be sure to leave early, and that also applies to those of hitting the roads.

AAA predicts that a record 10.2 million people around Southern California will travel at least 50 miles from home during the holiday travel period.

If you factor in the heavy rain, traffic will likely be slow - so be prepared.

Rain could start falling in Southern California as early as Tuesday afternoon. It'll start off scattered and light but intensify, especially overnight, into Wednesday.

The heaviest rainfall is expected to fall on Christmas Eve, especially in the early morning. The heaviest downpours will happen during the 6 a.m. hour, with more rain in the forecast on Christmas Day.

Two to as much as 4 inches of rain is expected to fall within a 24-hour span.

Los Angeles and the rest of Southern California could see heavy rain on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day due to an incoming atmospheric river.

The wet weather is expected to stick around through Friday, though the rain chances will begin to taper off.

The sunshine will peak through over the weekend, but only briefly. Another system brings the return of rain chances next Monday.

Check here for the latest forecast.

People living in the Palisades Fire burn zone are on alert with the incoming storm prompting evacuation and flood warnings, as well as road closures.

People living in the Palisades Fire burn zone are on alert with the incoming storm prompting evacuation and flood warnings, as well as road closures.

The evacuation warning for the Palisades Fire burn scar -- issued due to the threat of mudslides and debris flows -- goes into effect at 11 a.m. on Tuesday.

Residents in Malibu and the surrounding communities are bracing for heavy rain, and for some, that may mean a quiet Christmas at home.

"If the roads close, I was saying to my husband this morning that if the roads close, we're going to end up just probably staying home or maybe we'll go over to Joffrey's, because I would imagine they'll get some cancellations over there," said Teresa Legrove, who lives in Malibu Country Estates.

In the area, tarps line hillsides, k-rails remain in place and crews are reinforcing slopes and barriers to help prevent mudslides.

A meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says communities near recent burn scars should be especially cautious.

"The potential is definitely there for a couple of mudslides, debris flows, particularly in areas that have seen wildfires in recent history," NOAA meteorologist Kyle Wheeler said.

Even though classes aren't in session, students are still on campus at Pepperdine University, where staff say they're also preparing.

"We have close to 1,000 sandbags. We have about 500 sand and about 500 gravel, so we're just making sure that we deploy those sandbags to make sure that there aren't any slides, and that all the drains are taken care of," said Sergia Pena.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass says the city is also readying resources. In Pacific Palisades, 13,000 feet of k-rails remain in place, sandbags have been deployed, and the Los Angeles Fire Department is increasing staffing in case water rescues are needed.

Residents told Eyewitness News they are particularly concerned about potential road closures.

"I live up in Calabasas right now, so they're, you know, they just give extra time, and that's what I'm kind of doing too. I live in an apartment complex, so it's not a real problem for me where I'm at, but I do see other areas where it can definitely be problematic, especially on PCH," Paul Sullivan said.

Bass said sandbags are available at every fire station. Residents can sign up for emergency alerts at notifyla.org.