On Friday, the storied coastal road had dissolved into a river of mud and debris after a powerful rainstorm sent those burned hillsides careening toward the ocean, turning canyons into rivers of mud and rocks.

Flooding, mudslides and debris flows caused by the heaviest rain in Los Angeles and southern California in a year shut Pacific Coast Highway from approximately Santa Monica to the Malibu Pier.

The biggest storm of the winter walloped Southern California on Thursday, but by Friday morning conditions were improving as the storm subsided.