Mud and debris flow onto Duke's Malibu restaurant, cleanup underway

After surviving the Palisades Fire, Duke's restaurant in Malibu got the brunt of a mudslide from the recent rainstorm.

Thursday's storm triggered waves of mud, water and debris down the fire-torn hillsides onto Pacific Coast Highway and straight into Duke's restaurant.

The restaurant's operator said they had been closed since Jan.7, when the wildfire broke out, leaving the site covered with smoke and ash. Now he says the reopening timeline has been pushed back even more as mud also crept into the Hawaiian, surf-themed restaurant.

"Within literally a matter of minutes the restaurant was, both ends, entire parking lot, full of mud and debris,"  Josh Morgan, TS restaurants VP of operations said.    

"We have about 132 employees at Duke's and for them to be out of work, is a very difficult thing."

A portion of PCH from Chautauqua Boulevard in Los Angeles and Carbon Beach Terrace in Malibu was closed because of heavy flooding and mudslides. 

Saturday morning, Caltrans said one lane of PCH was reopened, calling the highway a "soft closure" as cleanup continues. The roadway is open to emergency responders, contractors, utilities and those with passes.   

Mudslides also rushed down Topanga Canyon Boulevard, causing its closure during the storm. 

"We just look forward to again, getting back open and serving our community and seeing all of our friends back in the restaurant,"  Morgan said.