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Up to 16 Dead After Heavy Rain Caused Devastating Mudslides in California

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January 10, 2018

Multiple bodies were found during the rescue operations on Tuesday in Montecito, 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles, after downpours sent mud and boulders roaring down hills that were stripped of vegetation by a gigantic wildfire that raged in the state in December.

 

Via DailyMail.com:

  • Most deaths were believed to have occurred in Montecito, a wealthy neighborhood of about 9,000 people
  • The enclave is home to such celebrities as Oprah Winfrey, Rob Lowe, Ellen DeGeneres and Jimmy Connors
  • Winfrey's home survived the storms, but she shared videos of knee-deep mud in her yard and rescue missions
  • Former tennis star Connors told his Twitter followers that he had to be evacuated from his home by helicopter 
  • Rescue crews used helicopters to pluck more than 50 people who were trapped in homes and on rooftops
  • The Critical coastal highway US 101 was shut down for 30-mile stretch from Ventura to Santa Barbara


    • Oprah Winfrey and tennis legend Jimmy Connors are among the thousands who have been affected by flash flooding and mudslides in southern California that have already left 16 people dead.

    Multiple bodies were found during the rescue operations on Tuesday in Montecito, 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles, after downpours sent mud and boulders roaring down hills that were stripped of vegetation by a gigantic wildfire that raged in the state in December.

    Most deaths were believed to have occurred in Montecito, a wealthy enclave of about 9,000 people northwest of Los Angeles that is home to such celebrities as Winfrey, Rob Lowe and Ellen DeGeneres. One person was also killed in a weather-related fatality in Los Angeles County.

    Mudslides slammed into homes, covered highways and swept away vehicles early on Tuesday when more than a half-inch (1.5cm) of rain fell in five minutes, a rate that far exceeds the normal flash flood threshold. 

    Officials said during a press conference on Tuesday that the death toll was 13.Santa Barbara County CEO Mona Miyasato emailed her staff shortly after so say the number had increased to 16, the Santa Barbara Independent reported.

    The first confirmed death was Roy Rohter, a former real estate broker who founded St. Augustine Academy in Ventura. The Catholic school's headmaster, Michael Van Hecke, announced the death and said Rohter's wife was injured by the mudslide.

    At least 25 people were injured in the mudslides and others were unaccounted for as of Tuesday.

    On Tuesday, emergency workers using search dogs and helicopters to rescue dozens of people stranded in mud-coated rubble in the normally pristine area, sandwiched between the ocean and the sprawling Los Padres National Forest, about 110 miles (180 km) north of Los Angeles.  
     


    Among those missing following the mudslides are sisters Morgan Corey, 25, and Sawyer Corey, 12. They were asleep in their home with Sawyer's twin sister, Summer, and their mother, Carie Baker, when the mudslide hit early Tuesday morning.

    Baker and Summer Corey were later found by rescue teams and taken to hospital in critical condition. Friends and family have launched a social media search for Saywer and Morgan, whose whereabouts are still unknown. 

      

      

    Also missing are elderly couple Alice and Jim Mitchell. Family members are hoping to find them at an evacuation center, but they have not heard from the couple since the mudslide hit. 

    Father-of-six John McManigal, who was swept out of his home by flooding alongside his 23-year-old son, Connor, who was later found.

    'My father is being reported as missing right now,' John's son, Tyler, who is stationed in Hawaii for the Navy, told the Los Angeles Times.

    The 28-year-old added: 'They found my brother probably three-quarters of a mile away, south of where the house is, on the 101 Freeway.' 

    Rescue crews used helicopters to pluck more than 50 people from rooftops because trees and power lines blocked roads, dozens more were rescued on the ground and firefighters pulled mud-caked 14-year-old Lauren Cantin from a collapsed Montecito home where she had been trapped for hours.

    'I thought I was dead for a minute there,' the girl could be heard saying on video posted by KNBC-TV before she was taken away on a stretcher.

    Lauren's father, Dave Cantin, and brother, Jack, were said to be missing after the rescue.  

    Andy Rupp, Montecito Fire Department told NBC News : 'As we came off this debris pile in the back, my partner and I were able to hear a little bit of a scream, so we got real quiet - we were able to locate the victim and over the last six hours we've been locating exactly where she was. 

    'Digging down to her, with the help of a lot of tools we were able to free her out and she's on her way in to the hospital right now.'  

    Elsewhere in Montecito, a man dug a baby out of four feet of mud after hearing crying coming from the neighbor's house.

    Berkeley Johnson and his wife, Karen, had climbed to their roof around 3am on Tuesday after mud and boulders crashed into their home.

    After the flooding receded, Johnson heard the cries from the neighbors house, so he jumped into action and dug four feet through the mud to find the child, who was under a pile of rocks. It remains unclear who the child belonged to. 

    'We don't know where it came from but we got it out, got the mud out of its mouth. I hope it's okay. I'm glad we got it out but who knows what else is out there,' he told KSBY, holding back tears. 

    Karen Johnson said that she and Berkeley were rescued by fire officials after climbing on to the roof of their neighbor's garage. The baby was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

    The death toll could increase when the search is deepened and expanded Wednesday, with a major search-and-rescue team arriving from nearby Los Angeles County and help from the Coast Guard and National Guard along with law enforcement. They'll focus first on finding survivors.  

    'Right now our assets are focused on determining if anyone is still alive in any of those structures that have been damaged,' Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said.

    The sheriff said 'at least several dozen homes that have been either destroyed or severely damaged, and likely many other ones are in areas that are as-yet inaccessible.'

    He said it's likely they'll find more people amid that destruction. 

    Sheriff Bill Brown said that identities of those killed in the mudslides until family members had been notified.  

    Rescue personnel in Santa Barbara County early on Wednesday morning continued searching for victims and the death toll could rise.

    'While we hope it will not, we expect this number to increase as we continue to look for people who are missing and unaccounted for,' Brown said. 

     

     

    The mud was unleashed in the dead of night by flash flooding in the steep, fire-scarred Santa Ynez Mountains.

    Burned-over zones are especially susceptible to destructive mudslides because scorched earth does not absorb water well and the land is easily eroded when there are no shrubs.

    The torrent of mud early on Tuesday swept away cars and destroyed several homes, reducing them to piles of lumber. 



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