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Stark NASA image shows where mudslides might hit O.C.

November 24th, 2008, 4:17 pm · 3 Comments · posted by Gary Robbins, science writer-editor

NASA’s Terra satellite has taken a highly detailed, false-color image of where the Triangle Complex fire charred the hills and canyons in the Brea-Yorba Linda area and made the landscape vulnerable to rain-driven mudslides and debris flow. (Click on image for vivid detail.)

The image was released at roughly the same time that the National Weather Service was issuing a flash flood watch for Orange County. The watch will go into effect Tuesday evening, when a storm is expected to move ashore, and end on Wednesday evening. Forecasters says that Orange County’s coastal areas could get from 0.75” to 1.5” of rain, and that the canyons and foothills in northeastern Orange County, where the Triangle Complex fire occurred last week, could get 1.5” to 2.5” of rain.

Forecasters also say that as little as 0.20” of rain in a 15 minute period could cause mudslides or debris flows in burn areas.

“A storm approaching from the west will bring periods of moderate to heavy rain Tuesday evening into Wednesday,” the weather service says in an advisory. “The snow level will start out quite high and then low to about 6,500 feet by Wednesdady night. So most of the precipitation will fall as rain. This will make flash flooding possible, especially in and below recently burned areas and near steep terrain.”

NASA says the Terra image uses false color, with red indicating vegetation, tan indicating bare ground, gray-blue indicating buildings and paved surfaces, and dark blue indicating water. “The (Triangle Complex) fire burn scar, stretching across the middle of the image, assumes a charcoal color,” NASA says. “Along its southwestern margin, the burn scar intrudes into the curving suburban streets of Yorba Linda and Brea.”

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     3 Comments

    • bpsqwerty says:
      November 24, 2008 at 4:48 pm

      wow not good

    • Checkers Ghost says:
      November 24, 2008 at 9:06 pm

      Wow !! Do you think the mudslides could reach my grave? Just kidding. What is the City doing to prepare? 25 sandbags per household. That ought to keep some homes from being engulfed in mud, breaking up and sliding down steep canyons. It’s been 9 days since the fire. Like John and Ken said, what has the City been doing except for providng sanbags and some mud flow information on their website?

    • ExV1x says:
      November 25, 2008 at 3:13 pm

      Why does everyone sit around and wait for the city to do something. Has it gotten to the point that nobody has any personal initiative anymore ? It is NOT the city’s responsibility to protect these homes. It’s the homeowner’s.
      I’ve been on the volunteer list all day and haven’t been contacted, so apparently those in danger are taking matters into their own hands and not relying on a government bureaucracy to “take care of tehm”.