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Heavy overnight rain sent mud flowing onto the Pacific Coast Highway, leading to a full shutdown of the highway between Malibu and Santa Monica Friday, authorities said.
Forecasters had issued a flood advisory for that area of the coastline Thursday night, with the National Weather Service Los Angeles warning of possible “mud flows and shallow debris flows” in areas left burn-scarred by the Palisades Fire. On Friday, Caltrans officials said a slide occurred in an area of the Pacific Coast Highway just north of Big Rock Drive in Malibu.
Lanes in both directions on the PCH are closed between Carbon Beach Terrace in Malibu and Chautauqua Boulevard in the Santa Monica area, the transportation agency said just before 9 a.m. It’s a roughly 11-mile stretch of the highway, which was just beginning to reopen after being fully closed for weeks due to the Palisades Fire and ongoing cleanup efforts.
Bulldozers had to remove about 10 truckloads of debris, Caltrans officials said, saying there was more debris drying out on the shoulder of the highway before being removed Friday morning. The agency’s geotechnical team is going to closure area Friday to determine when the highway can reopen.
Video from overnight shows heavy rain pouring down in the Pacific Palisades and nearby areas, mud dislodging from boulders along the PCH and spilling onto the roadway. With rain in the forecast this week, fears have arisen over mudslides and debris flows being triggered by the precipitation, particularly in areas where wildfires have left the terrain scorched barren.
