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Promise of rain reignites fears for Mountain Fire survivors

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CAMARILLO, Calif. — Paul Ruiz delivers packages to the Camarillo Heights community on a daily basis, but now his route looks much different.

“It's kind of emotional. Just looking at these homes like this,” said Ruiz, who lives in Camarillo but wasn’t affected by the devastating fires.

The city has seen a lot of devastation following last year’s Mountain Fire — thousands of acres burned and dozens of homes destroyed. 

“Some of them get weekly medications and they're an older community, so those people were unable to switch their address or I don't even know where some of them went,” said Ruiz.

The promise of rain has now reignited fears for many.

The CDC says landslides and debris flows result in up to 50 deaths each year nationally.

“As these rains come in, those folks in the burn scar areas should really keep their head on a swivel. Because, again, just like as quickly as those winds can can whip up the fire, that rain can whip up that loose newly burned soil and other debris that can cause a lot of damage,” said James Joyce III, who lives in Ventura.

Those whose homes were spared face a risk of landslides and debris flows, but the National Weather Service says that risk is low this time around. 

“Folks really need to stay tuned in and take that stuff seriously. But we can't live in a state of fear, just a state of preparation,” said Joyce III.

Regardless of the risk, experts say preparation is critical.

“Know what you're going to do ahead of time, because when those warnings come out, you know, seconds mean the difference between life and death,” said Ariel Cohen from the National Weather Service. 

The National Weather Service says to have a plan of action and multiple ways to receive emergency information from local law enforcement and emergency management officials. 
 
“People need to be very, very vigilant as we head through episodes of rainfall and especially thunderstorm activity. The rain does not enter below the ground and it runs off very much because the ground acts as cement where we have the recently burned areas. And so all of that runoff can go into debris flows,” said Cohen.
  
Ventura County’s Office of Emergency Services says they don’t anticipate any issues as rain is expected to be around a third of an inch over the weekend.
 
They say Camarillo isn’t as susceptible to debris flows compared with other post fire burn areas. 

Article Topic Follows: Ventura County
debris flows
mountain fire
mudslides
rockslides

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Mina Wahab

Arab-American producer & reporter with a mission to dig deep in interviews, share authentically, shed light on the issues that matter, and provoke deep thought.

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