Rescue efforts are ongoing in Santa Barbara County in California, with search teams looking for people who were caught by massive mudslides that swamped houses and trapped cars on Tuesday.

At least 15 people have died as a result of the mudslides, triggered when heavy rains hit hills that were recently devastated by wildfires, The Associated Press reports.

Some people are still unaccounted for, and the death toll is expected to climb, Danielle Karson reports for NPR.

Roads have been washed out or covered by rivers of mud that also devastated residential neighborhoods.

Karson, reporting for NPR from Pasadena, Calif., said the mudflows above Montecito were so powerful they ripped some homes off their foundations.

"Some rescues have been gut-wrenching: firefighters pushed through wait-high mud to reach a 14-year-old girl caked in mud from head to toe," Karson reports. "She had been trapped for hours in a pile of wood that was once her house.

"Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown described the devastation this way: 'It looked like a World War I battlefield. It was literally a carpet of mud and debris everywhere.' "

More than two dozen people were injured in the mudslides, member station KCLU reports.

"A number of houses were gutted, with rescuers pulling out people trapped under mountains of debris," KCLU's Lance Orozco wrote on Tuesday night. "Helicopters rescued some people who climbed onto the roofs of their homes to escape the torrent of water, and mud."

More than 500 firefighters helped with overnight search and rescue operations, Orozco says.

The Associated Press describes the catastrophic scene after the storm struck on Tuesday:



"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 doesn't absorb water well and the land is easily eroded when there are no shrubs. "The torrent arrived suddenly and with a sound some likened to a freight train as water carrying rocks and trees washed away cars and trashed homes. "Thomas Tighe said he stepped outside his Montecito home in the middle of the night and heard 'a deep rumbling, an ominous sound I knew was ... boulders moving as the mud was rising.' "Two cars were missing from his driveway and he watched two others slowly move sideways down the middle of the street 'in a river of mud.' "In daylight, Tighe was shocked to see a body pinned by muck against his neighbor's home. He wasn't sure who it was. "Authorities had been bracing for the possibility of catastrophic flooding because of heavy rain in the forecast for the first time in 10 months."



The storm is now over, and weather is no longer interfering with rescue efforts, authorities say.</s>Rescue crews continued to search Thursday for survivors amid the mud and wreckage of Montecito’s massive debris field, but acknowledged that the window to save lives is rapidly closing.

Up to 43 people remain unaccounted for following Tuesday’s massive mudflow, though officials said that number is highly fluid.

Earlier Thursday, officials placed the number of missing at eight. They increased that number after authorities combed through social media posts and message boards at evacuation shelters. Others who were found, or identified among the dead, were crossed off.

“It’s a constantly moving number,” said Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown, adding that he expected the death toll to rise.

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The mudslide killed at least 17 people and destroyed scores of homes. Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office released the names of the dead, who were all Montecito residents.

They were identified as Jonathan Benitez, 10; Kailly Benitez, 3; Martin Cabrera-Munoz, 48; David Cantin, 49; Sawyer Corey, 12; Peter Fleurat, 73; Josephine Gower, 69; John McManigal, 61; Alice Mitchell, 78; James Mitchell, 89; Mark Montgomery, 54; Caroline Montgomery, 22; Marilyn Ramos, 27; Rebecca Riskin, 61; Roy Rohter, 84; Peerawat Sutthithepn, 6; and Richard Taylor, 67.

The county coroner has listed the cause of death for each victim as “multiple traumatic injuries due to flash flood with mudslides due to recent wildfire.”

Brown said authorities are expanding mandatory evacuation zones in the area because pedestrians and traffic are hindering rescue and repair operations.

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People within the following boundaries were ordered to leave: the ocean to the south, Hot Springs Road to the west, the forest to the north, and Ladera Lane and Ortega Ridge Road to the east. Officials said they could be out of their homes for up to two weeks.

In the parking lot of the Vons shopping plaza on Coast Village Road, dozens of Montecito residents waited while sheriff’s deputies compiled a list of addresses.

They had emerged from their houses to buy supplies — including water, since their tap water was not safe to drink. Some said they came to the plaza in caravans organized by the sheriff’s office.

Yet after they loaded purchases into their cars, they were told they could not return home because the streets needed to be clear of traffic for workers clearing the debris.

Laura White lives next to the creek that overflowed near Olive Mill Road. She lost electricity, gas and heat after rushing water came up to the creek’s rim, carrying trees in its current.

She didn’t leave when authorities ordered her to evacuate for the Thomas fire. And she didn’t heed the mandatory evacuation order this time. She figured she could escape quickly. She grew up in Finland, where self-reliance in extreme weather is ingrained.

Yet when she saw cars washing down the creek, she looked away — she didn’t want to know what else was in there.

She has been piling on layers of jackets at night, since her house has no heat. She can’t boil tap water, since she has no gas. She knows she is fortunate.

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“It’s one of those things where everyone else’s house burns down, and yours doesn’t,” said White, 68.

First responders have searched about 75% of the debris field left by a torrent of boulders, detritus and muck, Brown said.

“It is a massive operation that we have underway, still in the search and rescue mode ... but as we transition and will transition to a recovery mode, we realize that this is going to be a long and difficult journey for all of us and for our community,” he said.

Emergency crews rescued three people Wednesday, using helicopters to reach residents trapped in canyon areas that were rendered inaccessible by mud, downed power lines and fallen trees.

Much of the focus of Thursday’s search was on areas rescue crews had been unable to reach earlier, said Amber Anderson, a public information officer for the multiagency response team handling the disaster.

Hundreds of people who were trapped but not injured in the slides, such as those stranded in Romero Canyon, were taken to safety on Wednesday, she said.

In some cases, the deluge seemed to split families as well as homes.

Fabiola Benitez, 28, was swept away along with her husband and two children when her house was leveled during Tuesday’s deluge, according to Lori Lieberman, a family friend. Benitez’s husband and older son were rescued and are hospitalized in stable condition, Lieberman said, adding that Benitez and her 9-year-old son remain missing and are feared dead.

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Roy Rohter, the founder of St. Augustine Academy in Ventura, was swept from his home alongside his wife, school officials said. Rohter did not survive; his wife was rescued and is said to be in stable condition, the college said in a statement this week.

Rebecca Riskin, a Montecito real estate agent, also was identified as one of those killed, according to a statement issued by her firm. She is survived by her husband and two children, the statement said.

The surge destroyed or damaged hundreds of buildings in Montecito and washed out a 30-mile stretch of the 101 Freeway. The roadway will remain closed until at least Monday from Highway 150 to Milpas Street in Santa Barbara as crews work around the clock to clear the area of mud, cars and other debris. On the stretch of the freeway by the Montecito Inn, several feet of mud and rubble collected in the road.

“It looks like a swamp — there’s so much stuff down there,” said Jose Gonzalez, a road crew worker stationed by a bridge over the 101. “Some of the locals think there’s probably bodies in there. I hope not.”

Nearly 60 single-family residences were destroyed in Montecito, and 446 others sustained damage, according to an update published Wednesday night by the multi-agency team responding to the devastation. An additional 1,500 homes remain threatened.

The debris field also cut off gas, electricity and water to much of the area. A boil-water notice remains in effect for the Montecito Water District, officials said, and rescue personnel are concerned that those who survived the slide but remain trapped soon could run dangerously low on supplies.

From above, the debris flow appears as a near-endless swath of brown, interrupted occasionally by the roof tiles of inundated homes and clouds of smoke from smoldering structures. In a rescue helicopter that was surveying the damage, National Guard Chief Warrant Officer Sean Quillin said the shock and speed of the mudslide had left nearly every survivor shaken.

Times staff writers James Queally in Los Angeles and Melissa Etehad in Montecito contributed to this report.

brittny.mejia@latimes.com

matt.hamilton@latimes.com

alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com

cindy.chang@latimes.com

Follow @brittny_mejia, @MattHjourno, alenetchek and @cindychangLA for updates on the mudslides in Montecito.

UPDATES:

9:25 p.m.: This article was updated with an interview with a resident.

8 p.m.: This article was updated with minor editing throughout.

5 p.m.: This article was updated with updated figures for missing people and other information from an afternoon news conference.

2:25 p.m.: This article has been updated with the names of the dead.

1:10 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details about the hazards faced by rescue teams.

11:40 a.m.: This article was updated with additional details about rescue teams reaching previously inaccessible areas and descriptions of damage as seen from the air.

This article was originally published at 8:25 a.m.</s>(Mike Eliason/Santa Barbara County Fire Department via AP). In this photo provided by Santa Barbara County Fire Department, mud and debris flow on the roadway due to heavy rain in Montecito. Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018.

(Mike Eliason/Santa Barbara County Fire Department via AP). In this photo provided by Santa Barbara County Fire Department, Santa Barbara County Fire Search Dog Reilly looks for victims in damaged and destroyed homes in Montecito, Calif.

(AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker). Mitchell Barrett crosses mud from an overflown creek on Sheffield Drive in Montecito, Calif., following the heavy rain, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018. Barrett was going to check on his parents' house in Montecito.

(Mike Eliason/Santa Barbara County Fire Department via AP). In this photo provided by Santa Barbara County Fire Department, U.S. Highway 101 at the Olive Mill Road overpass is flooded with runoff water from Montecito Creek in Montecito, Calif.

(Daniel Dreifuss). A structure is smashed against a tree along Hot Springs Road in Montecito, Calif. after getting hit by a flash flood and debris flow on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018.

MONTECITO, Calif. (AP) - Anxious family members awaited word on loved ones Wednesday as rescue crews searched grimy debris and ruins for more than a dozen people missing after mudslides in Southern California destroyed an estimated 100 houses, swept cars to the beach and left at least 17 victims dead.

"It's just waiting and not knowing, and the more I haven't heard from them - we have to find them," said Kelly Weimer, whose elderly parents' home was wrecked by the torrent of mud, trees and boulders that flowed down a fire-scarred mountain and slammed into the coastal town of Montecito in Santa Barbara County early Tuesday.

The drenching storm that triggered the disaster gave way to sunny skies, as hundreds of searchers carefully combed a messy landscape strewn with hazards.

"We've gotten multiple reports of rescuers falling through manholes that were covered with mud, swimming pools that were covered up with mud," said Anthony Buzzerio, a Los Angeles County fire battalion chief. "The mud is acting like a candy shell on ice cream. It's crusty on top but soft underneath, so we're having to be very careful."

Buzzerio led a team of 14 firefighters and six dogs in deep debris. They used long-handled tools to search the muck in the painstaking task.

Teams rescued three people Wednesday, but they also discovered two more bodies, raising the death count to 17, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said. Seventeen people were reported missing.

A dozen people were hospitalized at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital and four were in critical condition, Dr. Brett Wilson said.

"Most injuries we saw were related to fast-moving debris," Wilson said. "You can't even fathom what these poor patients went through to finally make their way to the emergency department."

The deluge destroyed 100 houses and damaged 300 others, Santa Barbara County authorities said. Eight commercial properties were destroyed and 20 damaged.

Some 500 firefighters and other rescue workers were searching debris spread across a wide swath of Montecito, a wealthy enclave of about 9,000 people northwest of Los Angeles that is home to such celebrities as Oprah Winfrey, Rob Lowe and Ellen DeGeneres.

Helicopters were used to hoist more than 50 people to safety from roofs, where they scrambled to escape the mud or because debris had blocked roads and left them stranded.

At one point, a Coast Guard helicopter rescued a family of five and their two dogs. Video shot from the hovering chopper showed a house surrounded by muck and debris as a mother, muddy from the waist down, handed her infant to two rescuers on the roof and then got help onto it. She and her newborn were hoisted to safety, followed by the rest of the family.

Along Hot Springs Road, where at least two homes were carried off their foundations, bulldozers cleared muck and debris from areas already searched. Utility crews began the laborious task of repairing downed power lines and snapped telephone poles.

The cleanup was going on near where Weimer's missing parents, Jim and Alice Mitchell, lived. The couple, together for more than a half-century, didn't heed a voluntary evacuation warning and stayed home Monday to celebrate Jim Mitchell's 89th birthday. She hoped to find them in a shelter or hospital.

"They're an adorable couple, and they were in love with their house. That's their forever home," Weimer said.

People in Montecito had counted themselves lucky last month after the biggest wildfire in California history spared the town. But it was the fire that led to the mudslide, by burning away vegetation.

"We totally thought we were out of the woods," said Jennifer Markham, whose home escaped damage in both disasters. "I was frozen yesterday morning thinking, 'This is a million times worse than that fire ever was.'"

Only an estimated 10 to 15 percent of residents fled when ordered and much of the damage occurred where evacuations were voluntary.

Marco Farrell, a real estate agent, cited "evacuation fatigue" as his reason not to leave - a decision he wouldn't make next time. He woke to the sound of pounding rain early Tuesday and went outside to investigate.

He was two blocks from home when he heard a rumble that he realized was the mudslide he feared.

"I ran as fast I could and yelled, 'Flash flood!' as I passed neighbors' homes," he said.

Farrell warned his parents inside, and within a minute, a boulder plowed through the kitchen door. The mud flow went through the home and burst through a backdoor.

Farrell planned to float his elderly parents to a hillside on a surfboard, but it was unnecessary. The mud never got above their thighs and after about an hour of huddling in a hallway, he led his folks and dog outside where a passing firetruck took them to safety.

The flow was so powerful it swept several homes off their foundations, crushed others and wrapped cars around trees. At least two unrecognizably mangled cars were carried like driftwood all the way to the beach, where they were partly covered in seaweed.

A 30-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 101 linking Ventura and Santa Barbara was still covered in heavy debris and not expected to reopen until Monday. Because of the closure, boats were used to ferry some employees to Cottage hospital.

Another storm-related death was reported in Northern California, where a man was killed when his car was apparently struck by falling rocks in a landslide Tuesday evening in Napa County.

Myers reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writers John Antczak, Michael Balsamo, Frank Baker and Brian Melley in Los Angeles and Alina Hartounian in Phoenix contributed to this report.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>(CNN) -- A day after mudslides crushed several Southern California homes and left at least 15 people dead, rescuers faced a difficult task Wednesday as hundreds of people remain cut off by debris in one neighborhood and others are still missing, officials said.

Heavy rains early Tuesday caused rivers of mud and debris to run down from hillsides in Santa Barbara County, demolishing homes in the seaside community of Montecito just weeks after a massive wildfire scarred the region.

On Wednesday morning, 300 people were trapped in the Romero Canyon area of Montecito because debris was blocking their way out of the neighborhood, Santa Barbara County spokeswoman Yaneris Muniz said.

"We can't get to them, and they can't get to us. ... Once we have daybreak, you will see helicopters start rescuing people there," Muniz said.
• Deadly storm: The 15 deaths were reported in Santa Barbara County, authorities said.
• More missing: Muniz said it's unclear how many people are missing, but searches are ongoing. Earlier, officials said at least two dozen people were unaccounted for.
• Hundreds of calls: As the storm hit hard between 3 and 6 a.m. Tuesday, sheriff's office dispatchers handled more than 600 phone calls for assistance, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said.
• Road closed: US 101 in parts of Montecito and Santa Barbara will remain closed for at least 48 hours, authorities said Tuesday.
• Intense rain: By Tuesday, more than 5.5 inches of rain had fallen in parts of Ventura County over two days, the National Weather Service said. In Carpinteria, nearly 1 inch fell in 15 minutes, the agency said.

Thomas Tighe told CNN affiliate KCAL he was outside his Montecito home and heard "a deep rumbling, an ominous sound I knew was ... boulders moving as the mud was rising."

He saw two cars moving sideways down the middle of the street "in a river of mud."

Peter Hartmann said the destruction was everywhere.

"There were gas mains that had popped, where you could hear the hissing," he told the TV station.

"Power lines were down, high-voltage power lines, the large aluminum poles to hold those were snapped in half. Water was flowing out of water mains and sheared-off fire hydrants."

Before the storm hit, Santa Barbara issued mandatory evacuations for 7,000 people, including in parts of Carpinteria, Montecito and Goleta, which are below areas scorched by wildfires, county spokeswoman Gina DePinto said.

"While some residents cooperated with the evacuations, many did not. Many chose to stay in place," said Brown, the sheriff.

Sheriff deputies spent Monday conducting door-to-door evacuations for 7,000 people in a mandatory evacuation area. But the area where homes were destroyed, south of Highway 192, was not in a mandatory evacuation zone.

Rescue personnel still have areas to search, Brown said.

"It was literally a carpet of mud and debris everywhere, with huge boulders, rocks, (downed) trees, power lines, wrecked cars -- lots of obstacles and challenges for rescue personnel to get to homes," Brown said.

'Mud came in an instant'

Ben Hyatt said a river of mud crashed through a neighbor's house in Montecito, a community of about 8,000 east of Santa Barbara.

"Apparently, one of their cars ended (up) in their backyard. We have neighbors at (the) top of the street that evacuated to their roof," Hyatt said.

Hyatt said his Montecito house was "surrounded by mud," and a washing machine had drifted into his front yard.

"Mud came in an instant, like a dam breaking. (It) surrounded the house, 2 to 3 feet," he said.

More than 1 inch of rain per hour

The rain fell at more than 1.5 inches per hour at one point early Tuesday in parts of Southern California. About a half inch per hour is enough to start mudslides, said Robbie Monroe of the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

The downpour fell in areas charred by recent wildfires, which burned vegetation that otherwise could make the terrain flood-resistant.

The Thomas Fire -- the largest wildfire in California's recorded history -- has burned more than 281,000 acres in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties since it began in early December. It was 92% contained, and officials don't expect full containment until later this month.

Montecito and Carpinteria are especially vulnerable to mudslides because the steep terrain in some places goes from thousands of feet above to sea level to sea level in "a matter of just a few miles," said Tom Fayram, a deputy public works director with Santa Barbara County.

"That's definitely at play here. It's just a mess," he said.

Mudslides are not uncommon to the area and can be deadly. In January 2005, a landslide struck La Conchita in Ventura County, killing 10 people.</s>(CNN) — The founder of a Catholic school is among the 17 people killed in deadly mudslides and flooding in Southern California. Hundreds of rescuers and dogs continued searching for people Wednesday, slogging through mud and debris.

Roy Rohter, 84, and his wife, Theresa, were swept from their Montecito home, the headmaster said. Theresa was rescued, said Michael Van Hecke, headmaster of St. Augustine Academy in Ventura, which Rohter founded in 1994.

Authorities have not confirmed the names of the dead. Children are among the victims, said Santa Barbara County fire spokesman Mike Eliason.

Heavy rains early Tuesday caused rivers of mud and debris to run down from hillsides in Santa Barbara County, demolishing homes in the affluent seaside community of Montecito weeks after wildfires in the area. Many people are on edge, awaiting news about missing loved ones.
• Deadly storm: The 17 deaths were reported in Santa Barbara County, authorities said.
• More missing: Officials said 17 people were unaccounted for.
• Rescue operation: More than 500 first responders and 10 dogs continued to search for people in Santa Barbara County.
• Trapped residents evacuated: First responders used a helicopter to rescue some of 300 residents trapped by debris blocking their way out of Montecito’s Romero Canyon area, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown. Some residents wanted to stay in their homes, Brown said.
• Hundreds of calls: As the storm hit hard between 3 and 6 a.m. Tuesday, sheriff’s office dispatchers handled more than 600 phone calls for assistance, Brown said.
• Rescues: Dozens of people have been rescued in Santa Barbara County, officials said. The US Coast Guard said it used helicopters Tuesday to collect people from rooftops, including a couple and their three children in Carpinteria.
• Injured: Twenty-eight people were hurt in Santa Barbara County, officials said.
• Destruction: Floodwaters and mudslides destroyed 100 homes and damaged another 300 residences in Santa Barbara County.
• Road closed: US 101 in parts of Montecito and Santa Barbara will remain closed for at least 48 hours because of the muddy debris covering it, authorities said Tuesday.

‘I just want to find my friend’

In Montecito, east of Santa Barbara, home after home is damaged or encircled by mounds of mud, furniture and fallen trees.

Diane Brewer has hopes of finding a missing friend who was at home with her boyfriend early Tuesday when a mudslide swept through the neighborhood.

“For some reason, she opened the front door” and was swept away, Brewer said.

The boyfriend also was carried away and became stuck between boulders before being rescued, Brewer said.

Brewer and others planned to search the property.

“I just want to find my friend,” Brewer said, in tears.

Thomas Tighe was outside his Montecito home when he heard “a deep rumbling, an ominous sound I knew was … boulders moving as the mud was rising,” he told CNN affiliate KCAL.

He saw two cars moving sideways down the middle of the street “in a river of mud.”

Peter Hartmann said the destruction was everywhere.

“There were gas mains that had popped, where you could hear the hissing,” he told the TV station.

“Power lines were down, high-voltage power lines, the large aluminum poles to hold those were snapped in half. Water was flowing out of water mains and sheared-off fire hydrants.”

Before the storm hit, Santa Barbara issued mandatory evacuations for 7,000 people, including in parts of Carpinteria, Montecito and Goleta, which are below areas scorched by wildfires, county spokeswoman Gina DePinto said.

“While some residents cooperated with the evacuations, many did not. Many chose to stay in place,” said Brown, the sheriff.

Sheriff deputies spent Monday conducting door-to-door evacuations for 7,000 people in a mandatory evacuation area. But the area where homes were destroyed, south of Highway 192, was not in a mandatory evacuation zone.

Rescue personnel still have areas to search, Brown said.

“It was literally a carpet of mud and debris everywhere, with huge boulders, rocks, (downed) trees, power lines, wrecked cars — lots of obstacles and challenges for rescue personnel to get to homes,” Brown said.

Oprah Winfrey posted a video on social media of her trudging through the mud in the yard of her Montecito home.

“There used to a fence right here,”she said, pointing in the direction of a neighbor’s home. “My neighbor’s house, devastated.” Winfrey said debris is “everywhere.”

“Thanks everyone for your prayers and concern,” Winfrey wrote on the social media post.

She said her home had minor damage, but it pales in comparison to what her her neighbors suffered.

The debris also shut down parts of the oceanside US 101, a major thoroughfare connecting Northern and Southern California.

A stew of floodwater, mud, tree limbs and other debris covered the highway in Montecito, making it impassable. Some cars were left on the highway, mired wheel-deep in the muck.

As workers clear debris to make areas accessible, more damage is revealed. Along Montecito’s Coast Village Road, the mudslide overturned trees and covered the pavement. At one spot, a car appeared to be sheared in half — its front half pointed skyward, jammed against a pile of muddy wreckage.

More than 1 inch of rain per hour

The rain fell at more than 1.5 inches per hour at one point early Tuesday in parts of Southern California. About a half inch per hour is enough to start mudslides, said Robbie Monroe of the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

The downpour fell in areas charred by recent wildfires, which burned vegetation that otherwise could make the terrain more resistant to mudslides.

The Thomas Fire — the largest wildfire in California’s recorded history — has burned more than 281,000 acres in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties since it began in early December. It was 92% contained, and officials don’t expect full containment until later this month.

Montecito and Carpinteria are especially vulnerable to mudslides because the steep terrain in some places goes from thousands of feet above sea level to sea level in “a matter of just a few miles,” said Tom Fayram, a deputy public works director with Santa Barbara County.

Mudslides are not uncommon to the area and can be deadly. In January 2005, a landslide struck La Conchita in Ventura County, killing 10 people</s>Rescue efforts are ongoing in Santa Barbara County in California, with search teams looking for people who were caught by massive mudslides that swamped houses and trapped cars on Tuesday.

At least 15 people have died as a result of the mudslides, triggered when heavy rains hit hills that were recently devastated by wildfires, The Associated Press reports.

Some people are still unaccounted for, and the death toll is expected to climb, Danielle Karson reports for NPR.

Roads have been washed out or covered by rivers of mud that also devastated residential neighborhoods.

Karson, reporting for NPR from Pasadena, Calif., said the mudflows above Montecito were so powerful they ripped some homes off their foundations.

"Some rescues have been gut-wrenching: firefighters pushed through wait-high mud to reach a 14-year-old girl caked in mud from head to toe," Karson reports. "She had been trapped for hours in a pile of wood that was once her house.

"Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown described the devastation this way: 'It looked like a World War I battlefield. It was literally a carpet of mud and debris everywhere.' "

More than two dozen people were injured in the mudslides, member station KCLU reports.

"A number of houses were gutted, with rescuers pulling out people trapped under mountains of debris," KCLU's Lance Orozco wrote on Tuesday night. "Helicopters rescued some people who climbed onto the roofs of their homes to escape the torrent of water, and mud."

More than 500 firefighters helped with overnight search and rescue operations, Orozco says.

The Associated Press describes the catastrophic scene after the storm struck on Tuesday:



"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 doesn't absorb water well and the land is easily eroded when there are no shrubs. "The torrent arrived suddenly and with a sound some likened to a freight train as water carrying rocks and trees washed away cars and trashed homes. "Thomas Tighe said he stepped outside his Montecito home in the middle of the night and heard 'a deep rumbling, an ominous sound I knew was ... boulders moving as the mud was rising.' "Two cars were missing from his driveway and he watched two others slowly move sideways down the middle of the street 'in a river of mud.' "In daylight, Tighe was shocked to see a body pinned by muck against his neighbor's home. He wasn't sure who it was. "Authorities had been bracing for the possibility of catastrophic flooding because of heavy rain in the forecast for the first time in 10 months."



The storm is now over, and weather is no longer interfering with rescue efforts, authorities say.</s>Search Efforts Continue After California Mudslides Killed At Least 15

Rescue efforts are ongoing in Santa Barbara County in California, with search teams looking for people who were caught by massive mudslides that swamped houses and trapped cars on Tuesday.

At least 15 people have died as a result of the mudslides, triggered when heavy rains hit hills that were recently devastated by wildfires, The Associated Press reports.

Some people are still unaccounted for, and the death toll is expected to climb, Danielle Karson reports for NPR.

Roads have been washed out or covered by rivers of mud that also devastated residential neighborhoods.

Karson, reporting for NPR from Pasadena, Calif., said the mudflows above Montecito were so powerful they ripped some homes off their foundations.

"Some rescues have been gut-wrenching: firefighters pushed through wait-high mud to reach a 14-year-old girl caked in mud from head to toe," Karson reports. "She had been trapped for hours in a pile of wood that was once her house.

"Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown described the devastation this way: 'It looked like a World War I battlefield. It was literally a carpet of mud and debris everywhere.' "

More than two dozen people were injured in the mudslides, member station KCLU reports.

"A number of houses were gutted, with rescuers pulling out people trapped under mountains of debris," KCLU's Lance Orozco wrote on Tuesday night. "Helicopters rescued some people who climbed onto the roofs of their homes to escape the torrent of water, and mud."

More than 500 firefighters helped with overnight search and rescue operations, Orozco says.

The Associated Press describes the catastrophic scene after the storm struck on Tuesday:

The storm is now over, and weather is no longer interfering with rescue efforts, authorities say.</s>Rescue efforts are ongoing in Santa Barbara County in California, with search teams looking for people who were caught by massive mudslides that swamped houses and trapped cars on Tuesday.

At least 15 people have died as a result of the mudslides, triggered when heavy rains hit hills that were recently devastated by wildfires, The Associated Press reports.

Some people are still unaccounted for, and the death toll is expected to climb, Danielle Karson reports for NPR.

Roads have been washed out or covered by rivers of mud that also devastated residential neighborhoods.

Karson, reporting for NPR from Pasadena, Calif., said the mudflows above Montecito were so powerful they ripped some homes off their foundations.

"Some rescues have been gut-wrenching: firefighters pushed through wait-high mud to reach a 14-year-old girl caked in mud from head to toe," Karson reports. "She had been trapped for hours in a pile of wood that was once her house.

"Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown described the devastation this way: 'It looked like a World War I battlefield. It was literally a carpet of mud and debris everywhere.' "

More than two dozen people were injured in the mudslides, member station KCLU reports.

"A number of houses were gutted, with rescuers pulling out people trapped under mountains of debris," KCLU's Lance Orozco wrote on Tuesday night. "Helicopters rescued some people who climbed onto the roofs of their homes to escape the torrent of water, and mud."

More than 500 firefighters helped with overnight search and rescue operations, Orozco says.

The Associated Press describes the catastrophic scene after the storm struck on Tuesday:



"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 doesn't absorb water well and the land is easily eroded when there are no shrubs. "The torrent arrived suddenly and with a sound some likened to a freight train as water carrying rocks and trees washed away cars and trashed homes. "Thomas Tighe said he stepped outside his Montecito home in the middle of the night and heard 'a deep rumbling, an ominous sound I knew was ... boulders moving as the mud was rising.' "Two cars were missing from his driveway and he watched two others slowly move sideways down the middle of the street 'in a river of mud.' "In daylight, Tighe was shocked to see a body pinned by muck against his neighbor's home. He wasn't sure who it was. "Authorities had been bracing for the possibility of catastrophic flooding because of heavy rain in the forecast for the first time in 10 months."



The storm is now over, and weather is no longer interfering with rescue efforts, authorities say.</s>Rescue efforts are ongoing in Santa Barbara County in California, with search teams looking for people who were caught by massive mudslides that swamped houses and trapped cars on Tuesday.

At least 15 people have died as a result of the mudslides, triggered when heavy rains hit hills that were recently devastated by wildfires, The Associated Press reports.

Some people are still unaccounted for, and the death toll is expected to climb, Danielle Karson reports for NPR.

Roads have been washed out or covered by rivers of mud that also devastated residential neighborhoods.

Karson, reporting for NPR from Pasadena, Calif., said the mudflows above Montecito were so powerful they ripped some homes off their foundations.

"Some rescues have been gut-wrenching: firefighters pushed through wait-high mud to reach a 14-year-old girl caked in mud from head to toe," Karson reports. "She had been trapped for hours in a pile of wood that was once her house.

"Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown described the devastation this way: 'It looked like a World War I battlefield. It was literally a carpet of mud and debris everywhere.' "

More than two dozen people were injured in the mudslides, member station KCLU reports.

"A number of houses were gutted, with rescuers pulling out people trapped under mountains of debris," KCLU's Lance Orozco wrote on Tuesday night. "Helicopters rescued some people who climbed onto the roofs of their homes to escape the torrent of water, and mud."

More than 500 firefighters helped with overnight search and rescue operations, Orozco says.

The Associated Press describes the catastrophic scene after the storm struck on Tuesday:



"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 doesn't absorb water well and the land is easily eroded when there are no shrubs. "The torrent arrived suddenly and with a sound some likened to a freight train as water carrying rocks and trees washed away cars and trashed homes. "Thomas Tighe said he stepped outside his Montecito home in the middle of the night and heard 'a deep rumbling, an ominous sound I knew was ... boulders moving as the mud was rising.' "Two cars were missing from his driveway and he watched two others slowly move sideways down the middle of the street 'in a river of mud.' "In daylight, Tighe was shocked to see a body pinned by muck against his neighbor's home. He wasn't sure who it was. "Authorities had been bracing for the possibility of catastrophic flooding because of heavy rain in the forecast for the first time in 10 months."



The storm is now over, and weather is no longer interfering with rescue efforts, authorities say.</s>(Mike Eliason/Santa Barbara County Fire Department via AP). In this photo provided by Santa Barbara County Fire Department, mud and debris flow on the roadway due to heavy rain in Montecito. Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018.

(Mike Eliason/Santa Barbara County Fire Department via AP). In this photo provided by Santa Barbara County Fire Department, Santa Barbara County Fire Search Dog Reilly looks for victims in damaged and destroyed homes in Montecito, Calif.

(AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker). Mitchell Barrett crosses mud from an overflown creek on Sheffield Drive in Montecito, Calif., following the heavy rain, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018. Barrett was going to check on his parents' house in Montecito.

(Mike Eliason/Santa Barbara County Fire Department via AP). In this photo provided by Santa Barbara County Fire Department, U.S. Highway 101 at the Olive Mill Road overpass is flooded with runoff water from Montecito Creek in Montecito, Calif.

(Daniel Dreifuss). A structure is smashed against a tree along Hot Springs Road in Montecito, Calif. after getting hit by a flash flood and debris flow on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018.

MONTECITO, Calif. (AP) - Anxious family members awaited word on loved ones Wednesday as rescue crews searched grimy debris and ruins for more than a dozen people missing after mudslides in Southern California destroyed an estimated 100 houses, swept cars to the beach and left at least 17 victims dead.

"It's just waiting and not knowing, and the more I haven't heard from them - we have to find them," said Kelly Weimer, whose elderly parents' home was wrecked by the torrent of mud, trees and boulders that flowed down a fire-scarred mountain and slammed into the coastal town of Montecito in Santa Barbara County early Tuesday.

The drenching storm that triggered the disaster gave way to sunny skies, as hundreds of searchers carefully combed a messy landscape strewn with hazards.

"We've gotten multiple reports of rescuers falling through manholes that were covered with mud, swimming pools that were covered up with mud," said Anthony Buzzerio, a Los Angeles County fire battalion chief. "The mud is acting like a candy shell on ice cream. It's crusty on top but soft underneath, so we're having to be very careful."

Buzzerio led a team of 14 firefighters and six dogs in deep debris. They used long-handled tools to search the muck in the painstaking task.

Teams rescued three people Wednesday, but they also discovered two more bodies, raising the death count to 17, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said. Seventeen people were reported missing.

A dozen people were hospitalized at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital and four were in critical condition, Dr. Brett Wilson said.

"Most injuries we saw were related to fast-moving debris," Wilson said. "You can't even fathom what these poor patients went through to finally make their way to the emergency department."

The deluge destroyed 100 houses and damaged 300 others, Santa Barbara County authorities said. Eight commercial properties were destroyed and 20 damaged.

Some 500 firefighters and other rescue workers were searching debris spread across a wide swath of Montecito, a wealthy enclave of about 9,000 people northwest of Los Angeles that is home to such celebrities as Oprah Winfrey, Rob Lowe and Ellen DeGeneres.

Helicopters were used to hoist more than 50 people to safety from roofs, where they scrambled to escape the mud or because debris had blocked roads and left them stranded.

At one point, a Coast Guard helicopter rescued a family of five and their two dogs. Video shot from the hovering chopper showed a house surrounded by muck and debris as a mother, muddy from the waist down, handed her infant to two rescuers on the roof and then got help onto it. She and her newborn were hoisted to safety, followed by the rest of the family.

Along Hot Springs Road, where at least two homes were carried off their foundations, bulldozers cleared muck and debris from areas already searched. Utility crews began the laborious task of repairing downed power lines and snapped telephone poles.

The cleanup was going on near where Weimer's missing parents, Jim and Alice Mitchell, lived. The couple, together for more than a half-century, didn't heed a voluntary evacuation warning and stayed home Monday to celebrate Jim Mitchell's 89th birthday. She hoped to find them in a shelter or hospital.

"They're an adorable couple, and they were in love with their house. That's their forever home," Weimer said.

People in Montecito had counted themselves lucky last month after the biggest wildfire in California history spared the town. But it was the fire that led to the mudslide, by burning away vegetation.

"We totally thought we were out of the woods," said Jennifer Markham, whose home escaped damage in both disasters. "I was frozen yesterday morning thinking, 'This is a million times worse than that fire ever was.'"

Only an estimated 10 to 15 percent of residents fled when ordered and much of the damage occurred where evacuations were voluntary.

Marco Farrell, a real estate agent, cited "evacuation fatigue" as his reason not to leave - a decision he wouldn't make next time. He woke to the sound of pounding rain early Tuesday and went outside to investigate.

He was two blocks from home when he heard a rumble that he realized was the mudslide he feared.

"I ran as fast I could and yelled, 'Flash flood!' as I passed neighbors' homes," he said.

Farrell warned his parents inside, and within a minute, a boulder plowed through the kitchen door. The mud flow went through the home and burst through a backdoor.

Farrell planned to float his elderly parents to a hillside on a surfboard, but it was unnecessary. The mud never got above their thighs and after about an hour of huddling in a hallway, he led his folks and dog outside where a passing firetruck took them to safety.

The flow was so powerful it swept several homes off their foundations, crushed others and wrapped cars around trees. At least two unrecognizably mangled cars were carried like driftwood all the way to the beach, where they were partly covered in seaweed.

A 30-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 101 linking Ventura and Santa Barbara was still covered in heavy debris and not expected to reopen until Monday. Because of the closure, boats were used to ferry some employees to Cottage hospital.

Another storm-related death was reported in Northern California, where a man was killed when his car was apparently struck by falling rocks in a landslide Tuesday evening in Napa County.

Myers reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writers John Antczak, Michael Balsamo, Frank Baker and Brian Melley in Los Angeles and Alina Hartounian in Phoenix contributed to this report.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office reports this afternoon that up to 43 people are still missing from Tuesday's mudslides as rescuers continue to search through Montecito’s massive debris field; this morning the report had been eight missing. The casualty numbers are expected to rise.