On January 31st, the Palisades fires had been fully contained, ending the destructive and devastating 24-day period, during which it burned 23,448 acres. However, there was still a bigger impact to be made even after this. Shortly after this devastating disaster, a slew of events followed, prompted by what the fire had done to not just the Palisades, but Los Angeles as a whole.
Mudslides
Shortly after the fires, Southern California experienced heavy amounts of rain in a short period of time, with record rainfall being reported in Downtown Los Angeles at 2.8 inches. With these big storms, it resulted in major impacts for the Los Angeles area. Several flash flood warnings were exhibited for much of the eastern, western, and central areas of LA County. Roads, like the Grapevine, had to stay closed a little while longer due to this storm.This unexpected rainfall, combined with the already scarred areas being covered in debris, created the perfect environment for dangerous mudslides and debris flows to form. Despite the hard work of our first responders, runoff of sand, gravel, and boulders had rushed down steep slopes to the homes and communities previously devastated by the fire. The mudslides became more powerful, attributed to the Palisades fire that had scattered debris picked up by them. Efforts were made to rescue people possibly injured or stuck in these mudslides and to rebuild the society broken by this unfortunate weather. Millions of dollars in damage were attributed to the total cost of damage to the already lump sum left by the palisades fire.
Attempts to restore
After the events of the fires, dozens of charities dedicated their time to help rebuild the scarred land and many donated supplies to help restore the communities. For example, both the Grammys and MusiCare events had generated about 24 million dollars to help restore the land. That’s not all however, Recently, there was a concert named the “Fireaid concert” which took place at both the Intuit Dome and the Kia Forum. The event had featured all sorts of popular performers like Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Green Day, and much more. Combined with the already big venues, the event was also streamed for 50 million people across 28 platforms. The event raised a grand total of 100 million dollars.
Despite the long fought battle with these fires, it’s unfortunate that citizens and communities must continue to fight the effects left by them. With the courage of our first responders during the mudslides and the generosity of the people, it has given hope that we may one day put the Palisades fires’ effect to rest for good.
