Mandatory evacuations for more than 100,000 people remain in place for the wildfires, which started Jan. 7 amid a powerful windstorm that forecasters warned would be the worst the region has seen in more than a decade.

Wind gusts and dry conditions will linger throughout the day on Thursday in Los Angeles where firefighters hope to gain on their momentum against two major wildfires that have ravaged everything in their path.

In Kim Stanley Robinson’s widely acclaimed, Obama-praised climate novel, The Ministry for the Future, the climate crisis is already well underway when catastrophic rains drown Los Angeles in water. Recreational kayaks and motorboats become crucial rescue vehicles,