California (January 10, 2018): Heavy rains unleashed destructive rivers of mud and debris in Southern California on Tuesday — leaving at least 13 dead, destroying homes and spurring rescues as the flooding forced heavily traveled roads to close.
The mudslides and flooding in Santa Barbara County, California, have claimed 13 lives, Sheriff Bill Brown said Tuesday. Brown said the death toll could rise.
Six homes near the coastal community of Montecito were “wiped away from their foundations” by mudflow and debris, Santa Barbara County fire spokesman Mike Eliason said.
Heavy rain was falling in areas charred by recent wildfires, triggering warnings of flash flooding and mudslides because vegetation that otherwise would hold hills together and make the terrain flood-resistant has burned away.
13 storm-related deaths have been reported in Santa Barbara County, said Santa Barbara County spokesperson David Villalobos. The fatalities are believed to be centered in Montecito, where mudflows and floodwater have inundated areas downstream from the Thomas Fire burn area. Twenty-five injuries were confirmed.
Fifty people have been rescued so far in Santa Barbara County, said county spokeswoman Valerie Kushnerov; efforts are concentrated in the Montecito area.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department lifted mandatory evacuation orders for hundreds of homes in Kagel Canyon, Lopez Canyon and Little Tujunga Canyon, areas impacted by the Fish and Creek fires. No major rain-related problems were detected in those areas, officials said. Mandatory evacuations were still in place in Burbank.
Muddy, debris-filled floodwaters had widespread effect, with parts of the seaside US Route 101 closed in Ventura County, the sheriff’s office there said. A stew of water, garbage and tree limbs flooded one part of US 101 between Montecito and Carpinteria.
By early Tuesday afternoon, more than 5.5 inches of rain had fallen in parts of Ventura County over two days, the National Weather Service said. In parts of Los Angeles County, more than 3 inches fell over that time and more than 4 inches in parts of Santa Barbara County.
Rain was beginning to taper in the hardest hit areas of Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties by Tuesday afternoon. The rainfall was expected to clear all of the Los Angeles area by late Tuesday.
Thousands of people were under evacuation orders because of flooding and mudslide fears ahead of the storm, including in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.
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