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. • 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. "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. "

More than two dozen people were injured in the mudslides, member station KCLU reports. 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. • Rescue operation: More than 500 first responders and 10 dogs continued to search for people in Santa Barbara County. "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.
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.