With some of the worst wildfires dying down, many southern Californians lucky enough to find their homes still standing are likely to face hardships for weeks to come.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated and thousands of homes remain at risk tonight as wildfires tear through southern California, US authorities said.

Thousands of people were being evacuated from houses, nursing homes and a hospital as brush fires fanned by fierce desert winds swept across Southern California today.

Thousands of homes were still at risk from wildfires raging through tinder-dry Californian countryside today.

Powerful winds drove two ferocious firestorms that had already burned more than 200 homes into dozens more houses in California today.