A pair of incoming storms are threatening to hamper recovery efforts in Paradise, Calif.

In a worst-case scenario, the downpour could flood the ruins and wash away human remains, leaving authorities unable to find and identify every victim of California’s deadliest wildfire on record.

Authorities fear bones could sink underwater, making them harder to spot and drowning any scent that cadaver dogs rely on to find them.

Paradise narrowed its main road through town as well as two other streets in recent years, hoping to slow traffic and improve pedestrian safety.

The changes came despite warnings that a major fire would cause crippling gridlock during evacuations, a scenario that became grim reality when California’s worst wildfire swept into Paradise this month.

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After a fast-moving fire swept into town a decade ago, burning more than 200 homes and trapping thousands of fleeing residents on gridlocked mountain roads, a grand jury called on officials to improve evacuation routes.

The number of people unaccounted for in the destructive Camp fire rose to 870 on Tuesday after investigators were able to work through a backlog of voicemails, authorities said.

The surge comes as the death toll increased to 81, with two bodies recovered inside structures in the Butte County town of Paradise. Of the 81, authorities said they had tentatively identified 56 people. 

By Tuesday evening, investigators had also been able to locate nearly 200 people reported missing, raising the number of people checked off the missing-persons list to 1,864. 

The death toll from California’s worst fire rose to 81 on Tuesday as the search continued for the missing.

The fire has burned more than 12,000 structures, destroying most of the town of Paradise and other nearby communities. 

As of Monday night, there were nearly 700 people still missing.

Inside the cafeteria of Bidwell Junior High School, 63-year-old Deborah Laughlin sipped on coffee and scooped up some apple pie.

A lot was on her mind.

Laughlin said she lost her home in Paradise. She had been living at Evergreen Mobile Home Park. Since the evacuations, she has been at the middle school, where the Red Cross operates a shelter. She said she registered with FEMA and hopes she’ll be able to get housing.

Four members of the Oakland Fire Department’s Urban Search and Rescue Task Force removed a charred mattress spring and began combing through a mixture of ash, dirt, shredded wood and pieces of roofing tiles.

Using their gloves to move around the blackened dirt, they looked for human remains.

“This is hard,” one of the recovery workers said. “But we’re trying. Let everyone know we’re trying.”

Victims of the Woolsey fire have filed a lawsuit against Southern California Edison alleging the utility was negligent in failing to shut off power before the wildfire started, attorneys announced Tuesday. 

The lawsuit, filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of 17 plaintiffs, alleges the company ignored warnings of extreme fire weather and only shut power off once the fire started. That delay contributed to the Woolsey fire’s destruction, plaintiffs say.

The fire, which is currently 96% contained, killed three people and destroyed 1,500 structures, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. 

Attorneys are seeking compensation for plaintiffs’ damaged property, lost wages and attorney fees.

Mandatory evacuations

For all evacuation areas click here. 

Road closures

Officials lifted evacuation orders for several communities near Lake Oroville on Tuesday. 

The news comes as firefighters make progress in the battling the Camp fire, which as of Tuesday morning was 70% contained. The fire has consumed more than 151,000 acres and killed at least 79 people, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. 

Officials announced that residents of all Berry Creek zones can return home, except the areas northbound Encina Grande Road at Choc Taw Ridge Road, northbound French Creek Road at Stephens Ridge Road and northbound Highway 162 at Four Mile Ridge Road. 

Communities in the Cherokee Zone B zone can also return to the area, with the exception of areas northbound Red Tape Road at Condor Road, Rocky Top Road at Cherokee Road, Vinton Gulch at Cherokee Road, Crystal Pines Road at Cherokee Road and Highway 70 East of the West branch bridge. 

All residents of the Messilla Valley Zone B can return home.