In the Los Angeles area, mud and debris covered several major roads including the Pacific Coast Highway, the 101 freeway and Mulholland Drive in the Hollywood Hills. In Malibu, an SUV carrying a Los Angeles firefighter was swept off the road and into the Pacific Ocean.

A powerful storm is bearing down on California as an atmospheric river drops through the state. While the fast-moving system will affect nearly the entire state on Thursday, Southern California is of high concern as intense rains fall on the heels of devastating wildfires — downpours that could trigger damaging floods and debris flows.

Three days of drenching rain, flooding and mudslides have forced evacuations and road closures, including a portion of the Pacific Coast Highway from Malibu and Pacific Palisades. The Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles,