California 'burn scars' bring risk of mudslides: We explain.
Recent wildfires have left Southern California with "burn scars," making the region vulnerable to mudslides.
Much of the Los Angeles vegetation that holds the topsoil in place has recently been ravaged by wildfires and has burned away – leaving behind "burn scars" or scorched swathes of land that are mostly seen in mountainous regions.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department warned residents that mudslides can happen without warning and can quickly cause catastrophic damage, sweeping away people, vehicles, and structures.
Fire-ravaged areas are now prone to mudslides
Over the weekend the National Weather Service in California had issued a warning for areas with elevated risk of rain, which could now bring dangerous conditions for mudslides.
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Anatomy of a mudslide
Because of the recent wildfires, parts of Southern California are vulnerable to mudslides, mudflows, and landslides. Ash and debris are created when trees and other objects are burned in wildfires, and this can cause the ground to become slick.
A special kind of landslide known as a mudslide occurs when a torrent of mud falls down hillsides, usually following intense rainfall. The main distinction is the type of material involved: mudslides are composed of fine silt and saturated soil, whereas landslides might consist of a combination of dirt and heavier debris, according to the California Department of Education.
How rains can cause mudslides and rockslides
Types of landslides
Landslides can be categorized according to how they move – such as slides, flows, spreads, topples, or falls – and how they are affected by the material they are made of – rock, rubble, or earth. A single landslide can involve multiple movement types.
CONTRIBUTING Christopher Cann and John Bacon and Michael Loria, Paste BN and Reuters
SOURCE NOAA, National Weather Service, California Geological Survey, California Geological Survey and Britannica.com