At least 5 dead as mudslides wipe away homes in fire-ravaged Southern California

By Avi Selk and Lindsey Bever January 9 at 3:27 PM

At least five people are dead in Southern California, where mudslides, cascading debris and floods have swept away buildings, inundated roads and forced thousands to flee their homes.

Rescuers found five bodies throughout Santa Barbara County on Tuesday, with more in danger across the region as a rainstorm sends mud and debris flowing down hills left barren after weeks of fires.

“It’s bad,” said Amber Anderson, a spokeswoman for Santa Barbara’s incident management team. She said more storm surges were expected in the afternoon, even as rescuers counted the dead found in the morning.

All five bodies were recovered near Montecito, a coastal community north of Los Angeles, where mudflows carried houses off their foundations and rose to people’s waists, according to the Los Angeles Times.

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At least 5 dead as heavy rains trigger flooding, mudflows and freeway closures across Southern California

By James Queally, Joseph Serna and Michael Livingston
JANUARY 9, 2018, 11:05 AM | REPORTING FROM MONTECITO

At least five people were killed Tuesday when a rainstorm sent mud and debris coursing through Montecito neighborhoods and left rescue crews to scramble through clogged roadways and downed trees to search for victims.

The deluge that washed over Santa Barbara County early Tuesday was the worst-case scenario for a community that was ravaged by the Thomas fire only a few weeks earlier. In just a matter of minutes, pounding rain overwhelmed the south-facing slopes above Montecito and flooded a creek that leads to the ocean, sending mud and massive boulders rolling into residential neighborhoods, according to Santa Barbara County Fire Department spokesman Mike Eliason

“It’s going to be worse than anyone imagined for our area,” he said. “Following our fire, this is the worst-case scenario.”

Five people were killed and at least eight were injured after a heavy band of rain struck around 2:30 a.m. causing “waist-high” mudflows, Eliason said.

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