Los Angeles, December 27, 2025 – The Europe Today: California faced another day of heavy rain and heightened flash flood risks on Friday, prompting Los Angeles County authorities to extend evacuation orders and issue warnings over hazardous road conditions during the busy holiday travel season.
According to the National Weather Service, a final storm system bringing bands of moderate to heavy rainfall was moving across the state Friday morning, raising the threat of flash flooding in coastal areas from Oxnard to Malibu. Southern California was also forecast to experience strong winds and possible thunderstorms near the coast, media reports said.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office announced that evacuation orders for affected areas would remain in effect through 1 p.m. local time on Friday. Meanwhile, more than 50,000 homes and businesses across the state were without electricity early Friday, most of them in Northern California, according to data from PowerOutage.us.
Several consecutive days of intense rainfall have severely affected regions that were devastated by large wildfires about a year ago. The loss of vegetation has left soils unable to absorb water efficiently, significantly increasing the risk of landslides, mudslides and power outages. Authorities warned that such risks are likely to persist whenever heavy rains strike Southern California until vegetation is restored and soil conditions improve.
“Those soils are still hydrophobic, which means that rain just runs off like it’s hitting hard dirt or concrete,” said Scott Kleebauer, a meteorologist at the Weather Prediction Center. He noted that burn scars can remain vulnerable for four to five years before noticeable recovery occurs.
The current wave of storms, described as historic by forecasters, began battering California earlier this week and has claimed at least three lives. The severe weather has disrupted Christmas holiday travel, causing road closures, flight delays and flooding on major freeways.
Meteorologists said the prolonged heavy precipitation is being driven by powerful Pacific storm systems known as atmospheric rivers, which have brought intense and sustained rainfall across large parts of the state.
