Fires across the Los Angeles area have killed at least 25 people. The Palisades and Eaton fires continue to burn in Southern California.

Fires across the Los Angeles area have killed at least 27 people. The Palisades and Eaton wildfires continue to burn in California today. Here are the latest updates.

A FEMA Disaster Recovery Center for Angelenos impacted by the fires has also been set up at the UCLA Research Park (formerly the Westside Pavilion). The center will serve as FEMA’s central hub for evacuated residents on the Westside, offering aid to those who have lost their homes, businesses or vital records.

– Two national reviews – one by a blue-ribbon commission and the other by the National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council – investigated the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill. This disaster killed 11 workers, seriously injured 16 others and released an estimated 134 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

Staggered after one of the most destructive natural disasters in Southern California history, thousands of heartbroken families, burned-out business owners and beleaguered leaders across Los Angeles County are beginning to ponder another monumental task: rebuilding what was lost and charting a path forward.

In early January, the soil moisture in much of Southern California was in the bottom 2% of historical records for that day in the region. That’s extremely low.

Hydroclimate whiplash -- the rapid shift between wet and dry conditions -- likely contributed to the severity of the wildfires in Southern California, experts say.

While the end to the fire danger is not yet in sight, experts say the hazards that will remain in its wake will be severe.

The state is seeing a sharp water divide this year, with lots of rain in the north while the south has stayed dry. A hydrologist explains what’s happening.

Many Californians thought wildfires couldn’t reach deep into their cities. But the Los Angeles fires showed how older homes became fuel that fed the fires.

The Los Angeles wildfires have reduced entire communities to ash, prompting some of those who lost their homes to vow to rebuild in the same spot they called home.

But Vance’s description of decades-long dry reservoirs is misleading. Experts on California’s water management told us they were not aware of any major reservoir that has been dry for 15 years or more. The state-managed reservoirs in Southern California are, in general, at or above their historic average storage for January.