The Brief

The flood tragedy in Texas has claimed over 100 lives — including at least 27 girls and staff at a summer camp — with an additional 161 people reported missing as of Tuesday.

It’s one of the nation’s deadliest floods this century and is spotlighting the growing numbers of flood deaths in the U.S., driven by heavier rainfall as the warming atmosphere holds more water.

Southern California has not been immune to serious injuries and deaths from floods.

In the wake of the tragedy in Texas, LAist set out to get answers about our local situation here.

We found that while flood infrastructure has come a long way since historic disasters, a warming climate is contributing to more frequent, powerful storms that heighten the risk of flooding in Southern California. Officials are six years behind schedule to fix one of the riskiest dams in the nation, sitting just above cities right here in Southern California.

But experts say there are steps you can take to protect yourself should disaster strike.

Flood infrastructure has improved a lot — but rainstorms are getting wetter, and local areas still flood 

Flooding used to be a regular occurrence in Southern California, both from rains and — in one major case — a manmade disaster.

Nearly a century ago, L.A. County suffered the deadliest dam failure in U.S. history. Design flaws caused the St. Francis Dam to collapse in 1928, killing at least 431 people from a flood that swept from Santa Clarita to Ventura.

The region has upgraded its flood control system since then by building major dams, water-holding basins and channelizing major rivers with concrete.

Some areas of the region do still flood during major storms — including one in 2005 that killed 10 people in a landslide and caused hundreds of millions in damage.

Even the modern infrastructure can still be inundated by a massive rainstorm.

“That system may be overwhelmed by a storm [that’s] the size and scope of what we've seen in Texas and what may be forecast as a hundred-year event,” said Kerjon Lee, a spokesperson for the L.A. County Public Works, which manages flood control systems across the county.

Major rainstorms are getting wetter, increasing flood risk

Storms that used to be expected once every 100 years are getting more frequent, experts say.

Frances Edwards, who oversaw emergency preparedness for the cities of San Jose and Irvine, said that, thanks to climate change, we can expect these 100-year storms — like the recent one in Texas — more frequently and in places we wouldn’t expect to be at risk.

“Just because it didn’t happen before, doesn't mean it can’t happen now,” she added. “The warmer the ocean gets, the warmer the air gets. The warmer the air gets, the more moisture it holds, which means there’s more moisture in the clouds when it rains, [and] as the ocean warms, we are going to see much wetter weather than before.”

The county’s draft hazard mitigation plan for 2025, which was made available for public comment this spring, says major rainstorms are expected to worsen with climate change, with a 95% chance of a flooding event each year in L.A. County. The draft plan is expected to go to the county Board of Supervisors for final approval.

We’re home to one of the nation’s highest-risk dams for major flooding

In 2016, the Whittier Narrows Dam above Pico Rivera was designated in the highest risk category nationally for failure — deemed by an official study to be “unsafe” and “critically near failure.”

Failure of the dam could be catastrophic, according to the county’s previous hazard mitigation plan from 2020.

“An intense storm could prematurely open the dam’s massive spillway and flood the area below from Pico Rivera to Long Beach,” the county plan states.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which manages the dam, classified it as the “highest dam priority nationally because of the risks ‘due to the combination of loss of life with a very high likelihood of failure” during a rare flood event.

An Army Corps construction project to fix the dam was expected to finish by 2025, the county plan stated.

The work is now six years behind schedule, with an estimated completion in 2031, a spokesperson for the city of Pico Rivera told LAist in an interview.

The Army Corps of Engineers did not have someone available to answer questions on Tuesday, according to a spokesperson.

But Pico Rivera spokesperson Javier Hernandez described to LAist the latest briefing the city got from the Army Corps and its contractor.

Major construction is expected to start late next spring and early summer, and be completed by the end of 2031, Hernandez said. The Army Corps cited the COVID-19 pandemic, economic downturn, supply chain shortages, and increased costs to obtain the large amount of raw materials as the main reasons for the delay, he said.

At the same time, Hernandez said heavier rainfall is “testing the limits of the dam.”

“The big challenge the Army Corps has outlined is, building such a significant project while trying to best plan for weather and weather conditions,” Hernandez said. “Hopefully, we don’t have the 500-year storm between now and completion of this project.”

How to prepare and protect yourself from flooding

Edwards, the former emergency planning director, said it’s important to pay close attention to weather forecasts and news reports before and during major storms — and to evaluate the area around your home for flood risks.

“Look at your environment, and ask yourself, if there’s a whole lot of rain that’s going to come in a hurry, is it going to come racing down the side of that mountain…or is it going to clog up storm drains in my area? What’s my risk in my location?” she said.

L.A. County emergency officials set up ready.lacounty.gov to help prepare for all kinds of disasters, including floods, said Lee of the public works department.

The flood preparation page includes links to maps of flood risks in the region.

“Severe flooding could happen almost anywhere in L.A. County. Just because you live adjacent to the L.A. River doesn't mean that there's not risk there,” Lee said.

People should try to keep three to four days of food and supplies at home in case they get stranded and are awaiting help, Edwards said. It’s also good to arrange in advance to have multiple people check in to make sure you’re OK, she said.

If someone doesn’t communicate back, that’s a trigger they may be stranded and to contact authorities, she said.

“You should still have a buddy system, so somebody knows that they haven’t heard from you,” Edwards said. “Asking for help is extremely important for everybody. I don't care how young and able-bodied you are.”

A federal judge ruled today that the Trump administration is not entitled to personal information belonging to California’s 23 million voters. Judge David O. Carter made the ruling.

Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice sued California, along with 22 other states and Washington, D.C., for access to their full, unredacted voter files. That includes driver’s license, social security numbers and other sensitive data.

DOJ officials said they needed the data to assess whether states were properly maintaining their voter rolls and ensuring "only American citizens are voting, only one time," as Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said in a social media post in December.

California refused, citing state and federal privacy law. Only a handful of states have complied with the government’s request for their full voter files, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, which has been tracking the issue nationwide.

What did the judge say?

In Judge Carter’s ruling, he wrote that amassing sensitive information at the federal level would have a chilling effect on voter registration, which would lead to decreased turnout “as voters fear that their information is being used for some inappropriate or unlawful purpose.”

He added, “This risk threatens the right to vote which is the cornerstone of American democracy."

LAist emailed a request for comment to a spokesperson for the Department of Justice but has not yet received a response.

Reaction to the ruling

Jenny Farrell, executive director of the League of Women Voters of California, applauded the decision. The group had joined California in opposing the government’s data request.

“ We think that voters should never have to choose between their privacy interests and the right to participate in our democracy,” she said.

Justin Levitt, a Loyola Law School professor and former Department of Justice employee said, “The court did what we thought the court should do.”

Levitt and a group of other former DOJ employees had filed an amicus brief in the case, siding with California.

In a news release, California Secretary of State Shirley Weber wrote: “I will continue to uphold my promise to Californians to protect our democracy, and I will continue to challenge this administration's disregard for the rule of law and our right to vote.”

What's next?

The DOJ's lawsuits against other states are still making their way through the courts.

During a hearing in the case in December, Judge Carter said he anticipated his eventual ruling — whichever way it went — would be appealed, and that a final decision on the issue could rest with the U.S. Supreme Court.

A Superior Court judge has found that the city of Los Angeles violated public open records laws nearly two years ago by taking action on matters related to its homelessness response and failing to report it.

That decision could be a factor in an ongoing hearing in federal court where a different judge is considering whether to hold the city in contempt of court.

In a ruling last week, L.A. County Superior Court Judge Curtis A. Kin found that the city violated the Brown Act on two occasions in January and May 2024 when it took action in closed session on the following:

— approving an encampment reduction plan;

— approving a memorandum of understanding with the county for support on interim housing beds and other issues.

Afterward, the city did not report those approvals in open session.

The city argued its actions were allowed under the Brown Act because they stemmed from the ongoing settlement between the city and the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights, a group of business owners and residents who sued the city over its response to the homelessness crisis.

But Kin disagreed with that argument, saying what the city had done in closed session did not fall within the Brown Act exemptions because they were policy decisions, not litigation decisions concerning the L.A. Alliance settlement.

In federal court, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter has been overseeing the city’s compliance with the settlement. Carter has said he’s concerned “the city has demonstrated a continuous pattern of delay” in meeting its obligations.

Carter has been hearing testimony since November from city officials and others in an ongoing contempt-of-court hearing. This week, the judge said in court documents that he would consider Kin’s ruling as the contempt hearing proceeds.

The parties were last in federal court earlier this week. It’s not yet clear when that hearing will resume.

Sidewalk vendors can now apply to receive a free, health-code-compliant food vending cart through a new program launched in a partnership between the county and the city of Los Angeles.

Who can apply

To receive a cart, applicants must be at least 18 years old, live in LA County, be self-employed as a sidewalk vendor, and earn less than $75,000 annually from vending, according to a news release. Applicants must operate within unincorporated LA County or the city of LA, and commit to full compliance with public health and safety regulations.

You can find the application here.

Permits to secure

Vendors who are awarded carts will have to secure required permits in order to begin operating as fully permitted businesses. This includes obtaining the Compact Mobile Food Operation (CMFO) certificate from the LA County Department of Public Health and any Sidewalk Vending Registration Certifications or permits required to comply with the county and city sidewalk vending programs.

Applications will be selected by lottery, will be reviewed on a monthly basis, and will be prioritized based on “compliance readiness.” Priority will also be given to those who are based in the county’s “highest-need areas,” as according to the county equity explorer map.

Eligible applicants will be connected to partner organizations like Inclusive Action for the City to help navigate the permitting process and to provide business business support and language assistance.

What kind of carts?

Carts offered through the program include:

• Integrated grill carts for precooked meat for tacos, hot dogs, and hamburgers that are assembled on a cart
• Hot-holding carts for pre-portioned cooked tamales, corn, quesadillas, gyros, pupusas
• Cut fruit carts for fruits, bionicos, and acai bowls
• Cold-hold ice cream carts that store prepackaged ice cream items

Currently, the county and city have 50 hot-holding and 30 cold-holding carts for the first round of awards with 40 integrated grill carts underway.

More about the program

The launch of the Sidewalk Vending Cart Program – which invests $2.8 million in more than 280 carts – follows the passage of state legislation that decriminalized street vendors and that streamlined the permitting process.

“The program aims to help vendors meet new legal requirements, overcome financial barriers to formalization, and operate safely and legally in their communities,” according to the news release.

Los Angeles County Board Chair Hilda Solis said the program can help ensure a “permitted pathway” toward entrepreneurship.
“Many vendors are navigating increasingly difficult and uncertain times due to cruel federal immigration actions, and we know vendors play an essential role in the economic and cultural vitality of Los Angeles County,” Solis said in a statement. “This is more than a program — this is a chance to support small business growth, economic stability, and even generational wealth.”

The biggest mobile network in the United States, Verizon, experienced a huge outage on Wednesday, leaving at least tens of thousands of customers without cell service for much of the day.

An update on Verizon's website today said the outage had been resolved. "We are sorry for what you experienced and will continue to work hard day and night to provide the outstanding network and service that people expect from Verizon," it said.

What happened?

It's still unclear. Verizon has not posted details nor an explanation of the cause of the outage on its website. In an email to NPR, a company spokesperson wrote that the problem stemmed from "a software issue" and that Verizon is conducting a full review.And while Verizon hasn't released a figure for how many customers were affected, the staff at the Downdetector website — where users go to report service outages — posted on Facebook that they received 2.3 million outage reports for Verizon throughout the day. (That doesn't necessarily translate to 2.3 million affected customers.)

Cell networks experience small outages fairly regularly, though, and sizable ones are not uncommon. Verizon had a disruption across several major cities in September 2024, and competitor AT&T was hit by a large outage in February 2024, affecting more than 125 million registered devices and customers in all 50 states.

Sanjoy Paul, a wireless network expert at Rice University, says telecommunications systems have become more complex over the past decade and a half as they've moved from physical infrastructure — wires and cables — and into the cloud.

"What used to be a completely hardware-dependent network transformed into a complete software-dependent network," he said. That shift has given operators more flexibility to add services or tweak products but, he said, it has come at the expense of reliability.

With a cloud and software-based networks, there are more opportunities for glitches and attacks, he said. Small issues with computer code buried inside these systems can have big consequences.

What have been some consequences of the outage?

Users had no connectivity for much of the day and were only able to access "SOS" mode during the outage.

Verizon, which has styled itself as America's best and most reliable network, has been in damage control mode. The company has issued instructions for customers to restart their devices to reconnect to the network if they are still having problems. It also pledged $20 credits as "a way of acknowledging your time and showing that this matters to us," according to their website.

The Federal Communications Commission said in a statement it was "continuing to actively investigate and monitor the situation to determine next steps."

Could it happen again?

Yep — to Verizon or any of its competitors.

Since the cause of this latest outage remains unclear, it's too early to say whether or not this exact thing could happen again. But Lee McKnight, an associate professor in the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University, told NPR's Morning Edition outages are "a fact of life these days for major telecommunications firms."

"Modern telecom networks are cloud networks. 5G networks are mainly, like, hundreds of different cloud services," he said. "The telecom companies haven't yet adjusted their training to that reality, that their staff have to be expert not just in cell towers and wireless, like we think about, but about cloud services, like AWS, or Microsoft, or Google."

At the end of the day, experts say, consumers should consider having a "Plan B" for connectivity. That may mean a land line for your house or getting a second phone on a different cell network.
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