debris flow – News, Research and Analysis – The Conversation

A debris flow channel in a severely burned watershed in Idaho. Amirhossein Montazeri/Boise State University

July 31, 2026

Rain on wildfire burn scars can trigger dangerous flooding and mudflows – a geologist explains how

Jen Pierce, Boise State University

Debris flows can move with the speed of a freight train, picking up and demolishing anything in their path.

Heavy rainfall from an atmospheric river triggered mudslides in the Los Angeles area on Jan. 9, 2023. Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG via Getty Images

January 11, 2023

Atmospheric rivers over California’s wildfire burn scars raise fears of deadly mudslides – this is what cascading climate disasters look like

Amir AghaKouchak, University of California, Irvine

Mudslides start with destabilized land, often from wildfires, and then rain drives the cascading disaster.

A firefighter checks homes after a mudslide that killed 23 people in Montecito, Calif., in 2018. Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

October 24, 2021

Evacuations ordered as a powerful storm heads for California’s wildfire burn scars, raising risk of mudslides – this is what cascading climate disasters look like

Amir AghaKouchak, University of California, Irvine

Studies show climate change is raising the risk of cascading hazards that alone might not be extreme but add up to human disasters. Communities and government agencies aren’t prepared.

As many as 20 people are dead and dozens missing following the Southern California mudslides. AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

January 17, 2018

Post‑fire mudslide problems aren’t new and likely to get worse

Lee MacDonald, Colorado State University

A watershed scientist explains why post-wildfire landscapes are so susceptible to landslides – and why those risks are poised to rise.

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