Montecito
mudslides | Death
toll rises to 19, 5
remain missing | The Tribune
mudslides | Death
toll rises to 19, 5
remain missing | The Tribune
The San Luis Obispo Tribune
2 days ago
begin quote from:
Death toll rises to
19 in Montecito
mudslides
19 in Montecito
mudslides
CBS News
15 hours ago
Death toll in
Montecito mudslide
rises to 19, while
101 Freeway will remain closed indefinitely
Montecito mudslide
rises to 19, while
101 Freeway will remain closed indefinitely
Los Angeles Times
15 hours ago
Death toll climbs to 19 in Montecito mudslides - SanLuisObispo.com
www.sanluisobispo.com/news/state/california/article194615889.html
2 days ago - The death toll from mudslides
in southern Santa Barbara County rose yet again as Sheriff Bill Brown
on Saturday said the body of 25-year-old Morgan Christine Corey —
previously missing — was found, bringing the total number to 19.California mudslides: Death toll rises to 20 after crews recover body
Last
Updated Jan 14, 2018 1:16 PM EST
MONTECITO, Calif. -- Recovery
crews slowly making progress digging away masses of mud, boulders and
toppled trees in a California community that was ravaged by deadly mudslides,
but officials said they've removed enough debris from creek canals to
prevent another potential disaster when the next rainstorm hits.Workers were using backhoes, jackhammers and chain saws to clear the debris in Montecito, nearly a week after a powerful storm sent flash floods cascading through mountain slopes that were burned bare by a huge wildfire in December.
Another body was found Sunday, bringing the number of fatalities to 20, Santa Barbara County spokesman Justin Cooper said. The coroner's office would identify the latest victim, he said. Four people still remain missing.
"This is all I have, everything is gone," Lalo Barajas told CBS News' Carter Evans. All he has left to remember his life partner of 17 years, Peter Fleurat, are the mementos he found a half mile from their house. He says they lived in a voluntary evacuation zone, so they decided to ride out Tuesday's storm. Then the mudslide hit.
"The floor, felt like it had no support at all, it was rolling underneath me," Barajas said. "The walls just burst open, the mud came in and just shot us both out of the house."
They were soon pulled in different directions.
"The last thing Peter yelled out to me was 'Lalo, grab onto some wood and don't let go.' And that was the last I heard of him," he recounted.
"If we don't get those debris basins cleaned out, then we're not going to be prepared for the storm and we don't know what that storm is going to look like," said Robert Lewin, Santa Barbara County's emergency management director.
The mudslides ravaged the tony community, destroying at least 65 homes and damaging more than 460 others, officials said. Firefighters went door to door along several blocks, checking the structural integrity of the damaged homes.
The rest of the community's infrastructure was also damaged. Some streets were cracked in half and authorities closed bridges and overpasses because they were unstable.
"The bridges, the roads, they all need help," Lewin said.
Eight large excavators were being used to clear the debris from Montecito Creek, Tom Fayram, the deputy director of the county's flood control district, said.
"Two days ago I passed by an area where there was no creek and today I went by and the creek was fully restored," he said. "We are making great progress and we have several days before that next storm."
A candlelight vigil for the victims and an interfaith service is planned for 5 p.m. Sunday at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse Sunken Garden.
More than 2,000 searchers and recovery workers have remained in the community, carrying out backbreaking work in the summerlike weather that has made the stretch of Santa Barbara County coast about 90 miles (145 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles a haven for the wealthy, celebrities and tourists.
Much of the community of about 9,000 remained under mandatory evacuation orders, even unscathed areas, as crews both removed debris and worked to restore water, sanitation, power and gas.
The San Luis Obispo Tribune
2 days ago
Heavy rains triggered devastating
mudslides in Montecito, California on Jan. 9. Authorities estimate that
at least 15 people have died.
Jonathan Salontay via Storyful
California
Death toll climbs to 19 in Montecito mudslides
Update, 9:15 a.m.
As of Sunday morning, 20 people are now dead and four are considered missing, according to authorities. Go here for Sunday’s updates.
Original story:
The death toll from
mudslides in southern Santa Barbara County rose yet again as Sheriff
Bill Brown on Saturday said the body of 25-year-old Morgan Christine
Corey — previously missing — was found, bringing the total number to 19.
Corey’s 12-year-old sister, Sawyer Corey, previously was found dead.
Brown said in a press conference that Corey’s body was found “in mud and debris east of Olive Mill Road,” at 9 a.m. Saturday.
Tuesday’s early morning mudslides and flash floods, intensified by damage done by the Thomas Fire, have claimed victims as young as 3 and as old as 89.
But there was some good news Saturday.
Delbert Weltzin, 62, was found alive and well by rescuers. Five people remain missing: Faviola Calderon, 28; John “Jack” Cantin, 17; John “Jack” Keating, 53; Lydia Sutthithepa, 2; and Pinit Sutthithepa, 30.
Brown urged anyone who has a missing person to report to call 805-681-5542.
“There is always hope,” Brown said, though he added that every hour that passes makes finding new survivors less likely.
While evacuation orders and warnings were lifted for some of the afflicted areas, Brown warned that many areas remain off-limits while emergency responders and vehicles are at work.
“It is not a safe or convenient place to be right now,” Brown said. “We know that this is terribly inconvenient and understand many of you were previously evacuated.”
Even as workers struggle with the storm’s destruction, Robert Lewin of the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management said officials are looking ahead.
“We have got to get those basins cleaned as fast as we can,” Lewin said. “Because if we don’t get those basins cleaned out, then we’re not going to be prepared for the next storm.”
“The next storm will come,” he added, “we don’t know what it will be.”
Jim Shivers of Cal Trans said Highways 101 and 192 remain closed, but that his department is working “12-hour shifts, seven days a week” to get them reopened.
“The issue for us is the massive amount of water on the highway,” Shivers said.
Until the highways are clear, commuters looking to travel from the Central Coast must take either I-5, via Highways 46 or 166, a ferry service like Island Packers or Condor Express or an AmTrak train.
Finally, county officials warned that the ocean from Gaviota to Carpinteria is off-limits “due to bacterial levels that continue to exceed standards.”
While that restriction doesn’t apply to sandy beaches in the affected areas, members of the public are encouraged to avoid debris while on the beach.
As of Sunday morning, 20 people are now dead and four are considered missing, according to authorities. Go here for Sunday’s updates.
Original story:
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Corey’s 12-year-old sister, Sawyer Corey, previously was found dead.
Brown said in a press conference that Corey’s body was found “in mud and debris east of Olive Mill Road,” at 9 a.m. Saturday.
Tuesday’s early morning mudslides and flash floods, intensified by damage done by the Thomas Fire, have claimed victims as young as 3 and as old as 89.
But there was some good news Saturday.
Delbert Weltzin, 62, was found alive and well by rescuers. Five people remain missing: Faviola Calderon, 28; John “Jack” Cantin, 17; John “Jack” Keating, 53; Lydia Sutthithepa, 2; and Pinit Sutthithepa, 30.
Brown urged anyone who has a missing person to report to call 805-681-5542.
“There is always hope,” Brown said, though he added that every hour that passes makes finding new survivors less likely.
While evacuation orders and warnings were lifted for some of the afflicted areas, Brown warned that many areas remain off-limits while emergency responders and vehicles are at work.
“It is not a safe or convenient place to be right now,” Brown said. “We know that this is terribly inconvenient and understand many of you were previously evacuated.”
Even as workers struggle with the storm’s destruction, Robert Lewin of the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management said officials are looking ahead.
“We have got to get those basins cleaned as fast as we can,” Lewin said. “Because if we don’t get those basins cleaned out, then we’re not going to be prepared for the next storm.”
Related stories from The Tribune
Jim Shivers of Cal Trans said Highways 101 and 192 remain closed, but that his department is working “12-hour shifts, seven days a week” to get them reopened.
“The issue for us is the massive amount of water on the highway,” Shivers said.
Until the highways are clear, commuters looking to travel from the Central Coast must take either I-5, via Highways 46 or 166, a ferry service like Island Packers or Condor Express or an AmTrak train.
Finally, county officials warned that the ocean from Gaviota to Carpinteria is off-limits “due to bacterial levels that continue to exceed standards.”
While that restriction doesn’t apply to sandy beaches in the affected areas, members of the public are encouraged to avoid debris while on the beach.
This
photo provided by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office on Saturday,
Jan. 13, 2018 shows Morgan Corey. Corey’s body was found Saturday.
AP
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