After devouring over 37,000 acres and claiming 29 lives, the Palisades and Eaton fires in Los Angeles County are finally contained—prompting residents to wonder if they should pack for floods next.

As firefighters finally put a cap on the worst natural disaster in Los Angeles County history, which left more than 16,000 structures in smoldering ruins and a bill for damages reaching $28 billion, locals now face a new challenge: stockpiling sandbags for incoming flash floods. With the ground scorched bare and hurricane-force winds recently replaced by downpours, it seems the only thing hotter than the fire season is the weather’s cruel sense of humor.

The Palisades Fire raged fiercely across 23,448 acres, while its slightly less ambitious counterpart, the Eaton Fire, charred a modest 14,201 acres. Together, they wreaked havoc of epic proportions, proving that Mother Nature sometimes has a flair for the dramatic and an apparent disdain for the local real estate market. With an estimated 180,000 people temporarily sidelined from their homes due to evacuation orders, Los Angeles residents have taken ‘vacation’ to a whole new level, trading beach resorts for makeshift refugee camps.

While the sheer destruction left by the fires is enough to take your breath away—and maybe a few dozen homes with it—at least 29 lives were tragically lost. The breakdown reveals that 17 fatalities were attributable to the Eaton Fire, while the Palisades Fire could claim only 12. It's almost as if the flames were competing for attention and a spot in the history books, but alas, lives were permanently changed in this competition where no one technically wins.

Property loss is reportedly staggering. The damaged infrastructure and homes have amassed faceless damage estimates soaring above $28 billion—an amount that could fund quite a few new homes, with one or two left over for a decent home makeover. How to adopt an ‘out with the old, in with the new’ philosophy amidst such tragedy is an entirely different matter, though eyebrows will undoubtedly raise at the bill when it's presented to taxpayers.

Helping—and hindering—firefighters in their containment efforts were extreme dry conditions that allowed the blazes to spread with unnerving ease. Hurricane-force winds assisted in pushing the flames forward like an enthusiastic crowd at a concert. However, the drastic weather shift that followed, as if Nature flipped a coin, provided brief relief from flames but triggered new warnings related to flash floods and mudslides caused by recent rainfall. Because of course, once you’ve survived a raging inferno, what could be more comforting than torrents of water cascading from your hillside down to your charred driveway?

The effective containment of the fires, now marked officially as 'contained,' means a perimeter has been established. Firefighters can finally pat themselves on the back—perhaps a bit gingerly considering how sore they must be—and breathe a sigh of relief knowing that the danger of further fire growth has been mitigated. But, with homes still smoldering and the memories still fresh, one has to wonder if the water bucket brigade is indeed the next route of action here. While many people might consider transforming their backyards into makeshift lakes a charming ideation, there's generally a lengthier cleanup process than simply arming yourself with a garden shovel and a dream.

As the fire continues to smolder in the minds of local residents, the official cause remains under investigation. So far, speculation is running wild, and questions linger in the air like the scent of charred wood. Did somebody leave their campfire lit for too long? Did one too many backyard barbecues get out of control? Or was it simply a case of arsonists having the day off? Regardless, the community wants answers as they sift through the ashes of once-beloved homes.

The fallout from these fires is likely to echo through Los Angeles County for years to come. Neighbors will come together to rebuild their lives while sharing fire safety tips and perhaps the occasional nervous laugh about how frozen peas are known to be quite the optimal ingredient after a natural disaster. The camaraderie that arises from rebuilding efforts may lead to a newfound appreciation for a foundation that isn't just a physical structure but something that glues together a community in the face of overwhelming challenges.

As the cleanup progresses and people begin to return to their homes—fragile shells of what once stood—they can at least hope for some bad weather while they stock up on sandbags and work on their disaster preparedness skills. It seems that the only thing more persistent than wildfires in Los Angeles is the inexplicable ability of residents to rebound, adapt, and perhaps laugh a little bit in the face of calamity because dwelling on the past is so last year.