Montecito residents weather storm

Gretchen Lieff is upbeat as she drives through her Montecito neighborhood with her dogs.

Federal Emergency Management Agency representatives Jerry Grigsby and Melinda Roussos check on a residence on Olive Mill Road.

A worker breaks up concrete with a sledgehammer beside a storm drain along Tiburon Bay Lane in Montecito.

Brigid and Tony Mills return to their residence at Casa Dorinda senior living complex in Montecito after evacuation orders were lifted.

Tanner Casner clears mud away to let stormwater drain into Buena Vista Creek in Montecito on March 2.

Shane Bennetzen jumps over a flooded area after rain moved into Montecito on March 2. Bennetzen was using a small earth mover to clear mud and release storm runoff into Buena Vista Creek.

Storm runoff flows toward the ocean in Montecito Creek on Friday.

Santa Barbara County Fire Department spokesman Mike Eliason checks the flow of Arroyo Paredon in Carpinteria.

Santa Barbara County firefighter Dean Carey moves a sign into place on Foothill Road in Carpinteria blocking a bridge over Arroyo Paredon.

Highway 101, blocked by mudslides when heavy rains struck in January, remained open at dawn on March 2 in Montecito after a new storm moved into the area overnight.

Bathrobe-clad Michael Clark looks over a swollen creek running through his property in the evacuation area of Montecito on March 2. Clark and his son didn’t evacuate. “Nobody will take care of my place like I can,” he said.

Patrick Braid, 47, owner of the Village Cheese and Wine Store, sets out to check on others who sheltered in place as rain falls in Montecito.

Sean Bolis, left, and Patrick Braid don rain gear before setting out to check on neighbors who stayed in their homes in the evacation area in Montecito.

Santa Barbara resident Margaret Van Sicklen, right, helps evacuate her parents, Peggy Van Sicklen, 85, and Doug Van Sicklen, 93, from their home of 15 years along San Ysidro Road in Montecito.

Sean Bolis, 33, loads up his car while evacuating from his home of six years along San Ysidro Road in Montecito.

Sandbags line part of the Montecito Inn, which was damaged by the Jan. 9 mudslide. A storm expected to hit Southern California on Thursday is forecast to drop as much as a half an inch of rain per hour.

An evacuation notice hangs in front of a home along San Ysidro Road in Montecito.

Bill Wagner, 75, looks on as neighbor Reena Bajaj, 67, writes her address on a barrier in front of their driveway before evacuating their condos along San Ysidro Road in Montecito.

A note is left for firefighters on the front door of the home of Doug Van Sicklen, 93, and Peggy Van Sicklen, 85, who were evacuated by their daughter Margaret Van Sicklen from their home of 15 years along San Ysidro Road in Montecito.

A home at Olive Mill Road and Hot Springs Road in Montecito that was damaged by a mudslide.