Reporting from MONTECITO, Calif. — Devastating mudslides that destroyed homes and trapped residents in Montecito on Tuesday occurred in an area that was not under mandatory evacuation orders, officials said.
Mud from a swollen creek slammed into homes in the 300 block of Hot Springs Road and nearby streets. Several people in Santa Barbara County died in the mudslides, but it’s unclear how many were in the Montecito neighborhood.
The area was not directly in the Thomas fire burn zone, officials said. During the fires, the location was under voluntary evacuation because it was far south of the burn area, so officials issued only voluntary evacuation orders there Monday night as the storm approached.
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Contractors for the city of Ventura work to clear a huge tree toppled by wind on South Chestnut street between Main and Santa Clara Streets in downtown Ventura on Tuesday morning.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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A car was stuck in a mudslide early Tuesday morning on Topanga Canyon Blvd., in Topanga.
(Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)
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Mario Romero looks at mud debris covering Maricopa Highway 33 North of Ojai that has several closures due to mud and debris slides covering the roadway Tuesday morning.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Debris and mud cover the entrance of the Montecito Inn after heavy rain brought flash flooding and mudslides to the area.
(Daniel Dreifuss / Associated Press)
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A rainbow appears over the deadly mudslide in Montecito along Olive Mill Road.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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A man walks by destruction along Olive Mill Road in Montecito.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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A sheriffs deputy stands near a body covered by a tarp near Hot Springs Road in Montecito after a deadly mudslide swept through the area.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Mangled cars are stuck near Olive Mill Road in Montecito after a major storm hit the burn area Tuesday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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A mangled car along with other debris is wrapped around a tree along Hot Springs Road in Montecito.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Scene from the 300 block of Hot Springs Road in Montecito following debris and mud flow due to heavy rain Tuesday morning.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Sheriffs deputies carry a body from the debris near Hot Springs Road in Montecito after a major storm hit the burn area Tuesday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times )
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Orange County search-and-rescue crews look for missing people along Olive Mill Road and Hot Springs Road in Montecito.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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A house is left among boulders and mud along Glen Oaks Drive in Montecito.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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The 101 Freeway is covered with mud and debris at Olive Mill Road in Montecito.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Montecito resident Terry Connery, second from left, is assisted on Wednesday by, from left, firefighters Mark Todd, John Cecena and Jeff Shea after the storm.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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A home off of Romero Canyon Road in Montecito is inundated with mud.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
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Crews work to clear debris from the closed 101 Freeway at Olive Mill Road in Montecito.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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The 101 Freeway remains closed as mud and debris clog the roadway at the Olive Mill Road overpass in Montecito.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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A member of the search and rescue team inpsects property near a home along Glen Oaks Drive in Montecito.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Ventura County fire Capt. Clay Cundiff searches a home for a woman who was reported missing by friends and family on Lilac Drive and Tollis Avenue in Montecito. She was later found safe.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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A member of the San Bernardino Search and Rescue holds a picture that was found along the East Cold Springs Creek in Montecito after a major storm hit the burn area Wednesday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Tim O’Donnell, a member of the L.A. County Search and Rescue team, searches under Ashley Road along the East Cold Springs Creek in Montecito after a major storm hit the burn area Wednesday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Travis Zehntner looks over the wreckage of a Glen Oaks Drive home where family friend Rebecca Riskin was killed.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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A home on West Park Lane along San Ysidro Creek in Montecito on Thursday.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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A Cantin family holiday card in a pile of debris in the 300 block of Hot Springs Road in Montecito. From left, Kim, mother who survived; father David, who was killed; son Jack, who is still missing; and daugher Lauren, who was pulled from the family home early Wednesday.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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A structure sits in a tree Friday on East Valley Road in Montecito.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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A dog and its handler from Riverside County search the rubble of a Hot Springs Road home Friday in Montecito.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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Water rises high near a home on East Valley Road on Friday in Montecito.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times )
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A dog helps rescue workers search through rocks, mud and debris for bodies Saturday in Montecito.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Firefighters look for missing people along Hot Springs Road in Montecito on Saturday.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Los Angeles City firefighter Jeffrey Neu gives water to Faith, a cadaver dog, while searching in a wood pile in Montectio Creek.
(Michael Owen Baker / For The Times)
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A Montecito freeway sign sits in mud on Highway 101.=
(Michael Owen Baker / For The Times)
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A view of the Thomas Fire burn zone and San Ysidro Creek in the Santa Ynez Mountains which brought mud and debris into Montecito neighborhoods.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Los Angeles City firefighter Hollyn Bullock uses a rescue tool to pry open a car door along Montecito Creek.
(Michael Owen Baker / For The Times)
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Montecito neighbors hug at a candlelight vigil outside the Santa Barbara Courthouse.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Mourners gather for a candlelight vigil outside the Santa Barbara Courthouse Sunday for victims of the Montecito mudslides.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Geness Lorien listens to speakers during a candlelight vigil outside the Santa Barbara Courthouse.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Mourners gather for a candlelight vigil outside the Santa Barbara Courthouse Sunday for victims of the Montecito mudslides.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Mark Vance shovels mud away from his house on Olive Mill Road in Montecito, California.
(Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)
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Jesse Rudnick, with the Regional Task Force 1 out of Marin County Fire and Rescue, searches for missing people around a Montecito home.
(Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)
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Hugo Bautista, left and Jose Garcia, contractors with Union Pacific Railroad make sure track is clear at the Olive Mill Road crossing in Montecito.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Amtrak has added extra trains and cars for passengers trying to get around the 101 Freeway closure in Montecito.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Crews continue to clear mud and debris from the 101 Freeway near Olive Mill Road on Tuesday, January 16, 2018. Officials said they hoped to have the freeway opened by next Monday.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Cal Trans crews work on clearing a drain along the 101 Freeway in Montecito on Tuesday, January 16, 2018.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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A worker takes a breather from directing a bulldozer driver who clears mud from the 101 freeway in Montecito.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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Progress is slowly being made as a worker and trucks traverse a recently cleared portion of the the 101 freeway at Olive Mill Road in Montecito.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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Santa Barbara Supervisor Joan Hartmann, from front left, Jefferson Litten, Hartmann’s Chief of Staff, and San Barbara City Councilman Eric Friedman, pink shirt, join others as they applaud first responders, fire fighters and law enforcement who’ve been aiding in the aftermath of the Montecito mudslide during a community meeting at the La Cumbre Junior High School in Santa Barbara.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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Margaret Stewart, with the Los Angeles City Fire Department, watches as her dog, Veya, tries to locate a victim of the mudslide along Highway 101 at Olive Mill Road in Montecito.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
But in a matter of minutes, pounding rain overwhelmed the south-facing slopes above Montecito and flooded Montecito Creek, which leads to the ocean. That sent mud and massive boulders rolling into neighborhoods.
“It’s going to be worse than anyone imagined for our area,” Santa Barbara County Fire Department spokesman Mike Eliason said. “Following our fire, this is the worst-case scenario.”
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Eliason and firefighters were on the ground in Montecito and had yet to make it north of Highway 192 — where mandatory evacuations had been issued the previous night. Instead, they spent the first hours of daylight making rescues near Montecito Creek north of the 101 Freeway. Many residents in the area had remained in their homes.
One person was found under the 101 overpass after a home a half-mile north was hit by floods and the person was carried away, Eliason said. The person’s condition was unknown.
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Crews rescued six people and a dog after four houses were destroyed. The mud lifted one residence off its foundation and carried it into trees, where it collapsed, Eliason said.
Firefighters used the jaws of life to cut their way into the home, where a firefighter heard muffled cries for help, Eliason said. A rescue dog pinpointed the location of a 14-year-old girl, and two hours later, the mud-covered teen was pulled free. Eliason said he did not know where her parents were.
A second 14-year-old girl was rescued from the same neighborhood and carried out of ankle-high mud in a basket by a half-dozen firefighters. One woman was found “in a debris field,” Eliason said. Her condition was unknown.
The mud and boulders have blocked access north of Highway 192, and authorities have been relying on helicopters from the U.S. Coast Guard to hoist people out of inaccessible areas, he said. Officials had no estimate on how many people could be trapped or how many homes were damaged.
“We have heavy equipment that’s trying to clear roadways of huge boulders as well as big power lines and trees,” Eliason said.
The mandatory evacuation orders had focused on foothill communities of 7,000 residents above Montecito that were closer to the fire zone, said Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Kelly Hoover. But not everyone heeded that call before the rain started coming down hard at 3 a.m.
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“We just had a deluge, a power surge of rain. And we had a report of a structure fire burning in the Montecito area, the San Ysidro area. And it just kept going downhill from there,” Hoover said Tuesday morning. “We have people stuck in their homes, stuck in their cars. There’s downed power lines, flooded roadways, debris.”
Areas that burn in wildfires can face severe flood risks when it rains.
By daybreak, 30 miles of the 101 Freeway were closed because of mudflows.
“There’s no way to get from Ventura here, no way for us to get south,” Hoover said. “We’re encouraging people to stay off the roads if they’re in an evacuation area.”
Hoover said dispatchers were being flooded with calls for help.
By 8:30 a.m., 50 calls were pending, she said.
In Montecito, Marc Phillips slogged up and down East Valley Road in his mud-soaked jeans.
Phillips pointed at areas on Parra Grande Road where homes used to be. “It looks like there was never a house there, but it was.”
“Technically, I was supposed to [evacuate] but my house is very high” from the street, Phillips said, thinking the people who lived closer to the creek would be in a worse situation than himself.
After hearing trees and houses being knocked down, and slogging though the mud, Phillips said, “I felt foolish for not evacuating.”
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Bridget Bottoms’ footsteps splashed through the mud as she and other residents ran to move out of a bulldozer’s way.
“Get over!” the driver yelled as he tried making his way down the muddy street.
“There’s never been anything like this,” Bottoms said.
UPDATES:
12:35 p.m.: This post was updated with residents’ comments.
Michael Livingston was a Metpro trainee from 2017-18 at the Los Angeles Times. He previously worked as a crime reporter at the Herald in Rock Hill, S.C. and the Danville Register & Bee in Virginia. While at the Register & Bee, he won multiple Virginia Press Assn. awards for crime and breaking news reporting. He graduated from Virginia Union University in Richmond.
