On the other end of the Thomas Fire burn area, video from Caltrans showed a portion of State Route 33 had completely washed away.
Advertisement
Torrential downpours hit areas in Santa Barbara County earlier this week, triggering devastating mudslides that have killed at least 17 people as of Thursday morning, with at least another 17 officially reported missing.
Eight commercial properties were also destroyed and 20 were damaged. At least 25 others were injured, and fire officials with the Santa Barbara County Fire Department told ABC News that they had conducted “dozens and dozens” of rescues.
While the Bay Area muddles through the last of its heavy rains on Tuesday, Californians to the south are watching as their hillsides slip and their roadways get smothered by oozing mudslides.
Teams rescued three people, but they also discovered two more bodies, raising the death count, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said.
Firefighters in Montecito, Calif., managed to rescue a young woman who was trapped for several hours in the debris of a home destroyed by mudslides in the Santa Barbara County community on Tuesday.
After the wildfire, burned vegetation and charred soil created a water repellent layer that blocked water absorption and increased risk of mudslides and floods. The overnight rains forced road closures, including a 30-mile (48-km) stretch of U.S. Highway 101, essentially cutting off traffic between Santa Barbara and Ventura counties northwest of Los Angeles. Around 7,000 residents above Montecito closer to the fire zone were the focus of the evacuation order, reported the Los Angeles Times.
Rescue efforts are fully mobilized, he said, adding that there are now 683 rescue workers, up from 450 on Wednesday, involved in the disaster relief efforts.
More than 500 firefighters are involved in the search – but conditions are perilous, with “multiple reports of rescuers falling through manholes covered with mud”.
Advertisement
“We realise that this is going to be a long and hard journey for all of us and our community”, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said.
