On Friday, the storied coastal road had dissolved into a river of mud and debris after a powerful rainstorm sent those burned hillsides careening toward the ocean, turning canyons into rivers of mud and rocks.

Flooding, mudslides and debris flows caused by the heaviest rain in Los Angeles and southern California in a year shut Pacific Coast Highway from approximately Santa Monica to the Malibu Pier.

The strongest atmospheric river of the season left roads submerged in sludge and created conditions for mudslides on wildfire-scarred hillsides.

For the second time this year, Southern Californians are evacuating their homes as heavy rain threatens new destruction in places still recovering from last month’s devastating wildfires.

Southern California was primed for more mudslides and flooding on Friday, especially in areas scorched by last month's devastating wildfires, even as heavy rains that have saturated the Los Angeles area this week tapered off.