A day after mudslides crushed several Southern California homes and left at least 15 people dead, rescuers faced a difficult task Wednesday as hundreds of people remain cut off by debris in one neighborhood and others are still missing, officials said.
Heavy rains early Tuesday caused rivers of mud and debris to run down from hillsides in Santa Barbara County, demolishing homes in the seaside community of Montecito.
Mudslides unleashed by a ferocious storm demolished homes in southern California, authorities said Tuesday. Five people were reported killed. / AFP PHOTO / Robyn BeckROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images
The rainfall came just weeks after a massive wildfire stripped the landscape of vegetation that might have made the area more flood-resistant.
On Wednesday morning, 300 people were trapped in the Romero Canyon area of Montecito because debris was blocking their way out of the neighborhood, Santa Barbara County spokeswoman Yaneris Muniz said.
“We can’t get to them, and they can’t get to us. … Once we have daybreak, you will see helicopters start rescuing people there,” Muniz said.
Latest developments
• Deadly storm: The 15 deaths were reported in Santa Barbara County, authorities said.
• More missing: Muniz said it’s unclear how many people are missing, but searches are ongoing. Earlier, officials said at least two dozen people were unaccounted for.
• Hundreds of calls: As the storm hit hard between 3 and 6 a.m. Tuesday, sheriff’s office dispatchers handled more than 600 phone calls for assistance, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said.
• Rescues: Dozens of people have been rescued in Santa Barbara County, officials said. The US Coast Guard says it used helicopters Tuesday to collect people from rooftops, including a couple and their three children — an infant, a 3-year-old and a 7-year-old — in Carpinteria.
A Coast Guard helicopter crew pulls a person onto a roof after mud flowed through the house in Carpinteria on Tuesday.
A Coast Guard helicopter crew pulls a person onto a roof after mud flowed through the house in Carpinteria on Tuesday.
• Road closed: US 101 in parts of Montecito and Santa Barbara will remain closed for at least 48 hours because of the muddy debris covering it, authorities said Tuesday.
• Intense rain: By Tuesday, more than 5.5 inches of rain had fallen in parts of Ventura County over two days, the National Weather Service said. In Carpinteria, nearly 1 inch fell in 15 minutes, the agency said.
A police vehicle drives across a flooded side road near the San Ysidro exit of US 101 in Montecito on January 9.
‘River of mud’
Thomas Tighe told CNN affiliate KCAL he was outside his Montecito home and heard “a deep rumbling, an ominous sound I knew was … boulders moving as the mud was rising.”
He saw two cars moving sideways down the middle of the street “in a river of mud.”
Peter Hartmann said the destruction was everywhere.
“There were gas mains that had popped, where you could hear the hissing,” he told the TV station.
“Power lines were down, high-voltage power lines, the large aluminum poles to hold those were snapped in half. Water was flowing out of water mains and sheared-off fire hydrants.”
Photo/News: CNN
