(Reuters) - A California utility informed regulators on Thursday that it was investigating whether a devastating wildfire near Malibu last month may have been caused by contact between a wire that provides pole support and a live wire.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Heavy rains and the threat of mudslides in Southern California forced the closure of a key coastal highway near Malibu on Thursday and prompted authorities to order evacuations of almost 3,000 residents from hillside areas scarred by recent wildfires.

LOS ANGELES _ Heavy rain that pounded Los Angeles and the surrounding areas early Thursday caused debris to flow onto Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu and prompted the National Weather Service to issue a flash flood warning for Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

LOS ANGELES _ As heavy rain pelted Hollywood Burbank Airport on Thursday morning, the pilot of Southwest Flight 278 out of Oakland came over the intercom with a warning: The runway was short and wet. It was going to be a bumpy landing.

LOS ANGELES _ Southern California was pounded by a fierce winter storm Thursday that dumped up to 2 inches of rain in some areas, unleashing mud and debris flows in Malibu and creating dangerous conditions in numerous areas burned in recent wildfires.

Some escaped Malibu by yacht while people fled Paradise on foot. But both cities face a brutal new normal, writes the scholar and urban theorist Mike Davis