 Wildfires take a toll on California's landscape but when the flames are gone a new environmental hazard rears its ugly head Flooding debris flows mudslides. You see that's the irony of California's winters rain That brings relief from fire also brings its own brand of destruction 2018 Montecito Montecito in Santa Barbara County suffered massive debris flows following the Thomas fire Mudslides that killed 23 people destroyed property causing a hundred seventy seven million dollars in property damage Burned scarred landscape is very susceptible to debris flows and mudslides when fire burns hot down to the ground a Waxy layer forms on top Then heavy rains loosen that layer forcing it to give way and run at speeds up to and beyond 20 miles per hour Capturing anything in its path. It's not something to take casually We tend to think as water Moving as not dangerous, but this condition is different. The water has dirt mud boulders trees and other debris from the fire It will knock you down and drown you all that ash also taints ground water Challenging water agencies to ensure their treatment systems and infrastructure are intact and working properly Since the tubs fire Sonoma County Water Agency has partnered with the National Weather Service to develop and implement a new early warning flood forecast system Chief engineer Jay Jaspers told us back then how it works deploying Monitoring instruments in the watershed so we can keep track of the intensity of rainfall in these burn areas as well as the level of water in the creeks and streams at key Areas the weather service would then help predict where floods or landslides might take place You can check with your local water agency to see if they have flood monitoring and notification systems and be sure to subscribe to local emergency notifications and follow them and call oes on all social media platforms for the latest news and disaster information I'm sean boyd for call oes