Cleanup of mud and debris continues on the 101 Freeway in Montecito on Tuesday. Officials hope to have the roadway open by Jan. 22. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
Rain expected later this week could hamper the cleanup process for crews trying to remove tons of debris and mud from Montecito and surrounding areas, after mud flows killed 20 people and destroyed more than 100 homes last week.
The area is far from recovered after last week’s deluge. Officials say three people are still missing, about 1,400 are without power, and a stretch of the 101 Freeway remains closed between Santa Barbara and Carpinteria, even after crews have spent a week trying to clear the muddy, debris-filled river created by the deadly flows.
About 3,500 tons of debris was delivered Monday to the Ventura County Fairgrounds, where it will be stored until officials sort through the material. The load includes 25 tons of clean soil that will be sent to Goleta Beach, said Lance Klug, spokesman for the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery’s Office of Emergency Services.
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To help with cleanup efforts, the Calabasas Landfill will accept up to 1,000 tons of debris from Montecito through mid-April.
The Los Angeles Board of Supervisors on Tuesday passed a temporary waiver to allow the dump to take the material, and CalRecycle is working to identify other regional landfills that can take debris.
The cold storm should arrive Thursday evening and drop between a tenth and two-tenths of an inch of rain over the Thomas fire burn and debris flow area through Friday morning, said Weather Service hydrologist Jayme Laber.
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While that’s not enough rain to create slides in the area under normal conditions, officials are proceeding with caution and warning evacuees to stay away, unsure of what more precipitation could do to a landscape that has already been massively altered in the last months.
“We’re dealing with a very, very new area of disaster. ... We’re unsure of how that landscape is going to react to even a small amount of rain,” said Capt. Jon Heggie with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. “There’s two things we’re dealing with — one being the way the landscape has changed due to the mudslides and also obviously the overwhelming impact the whole landscape has taken due to the removal of the … holding material, all the brush that’s been burnt away.”
The rain could also make cleanup efforts tougher, he said.
“It’s difficult to work in any type of rainy, wet situation,” Heggie said. “We’re trying to get rid of water, and now we’re going to be adding more water.”
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But Tom Fayram, the deputy public works director for Santa Barbara County, told a crowd at a community meeting Tuesday night that the anticipated rain does not pose a significant threat.
Workers have made good progress clearing debris out of creek channels that run down the steep hills above Montecito, opening the channels so rainwater can run down the creek beds and not into the streets, he said.
“This rain will give us the first test but we believe the creek systems can handle this next rain,” he said.
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Fayram said the rain is not expected to be significant and “may actually be beneficial” because it will test how well workers have cleared the channels of debris.
“We don’t know the full extent of the capacity of our drainage system,” he said. “But we will find out, we will find its weaknesses and we will fix it.”
About 20 crews are also trying to restore power, but are hampered by “significant mud flow and debris blocking roads,” Southern California Edison spokesman Steve Conroy wrote in an email. “Dozens of poles, wires and other equipment need to be replaced. There is progress, but it will continue to be slow due to current conditions.”
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Contractors for the city of Ventura work to clear a huge tree toppled by wind on South Chestnut street between Main and Santa Clara Streets in downtown Ventura on Tuesday morning.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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A car was stuck in a mudslide early Tuesday morning on Topanga Canyon Blvd., in Topanga.
(Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)
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Mario Romero looks at mud debris covering Maricopa Highway 33 North of Ojai that has several closures due to mud and debris slides covering the roadway Tuesday morning.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Debris and mud cover the entrance of the Montecito Inn after heavy rain brought flash flooding and mudslides to the area.
(Daniel Dreifuss / Associated Press)
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A rainbow appears over the deadly mudslide in Montecito along Olive Mill Road.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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A man walks by destruction along Olive Mill Road in Montecito.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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A sheriffs deputy stands near a body covered by a tarp near Hot Springs Road in Montecito after a deadly mudslide swept through the area.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Mangled cars are stuck near Olive Mill Road in Montecito after a major storm hit the burn area Tuesday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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A mangled car along with other debris is wrapped around a tree along Hot Springs Road in Montecito.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Scene from the 300 block of Hot Springs Road in Montecito following debris and mud flow due to heavy rain Tuesday morning.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Sheriffs deputies carry a body from the debris near Hot Springs Road in Montecito after a major storm hit the burn area Tuesday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times )
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Orange County search-and-rescue crews look for missing people along Olive Mill Road and Hot Springs Road in Montecito.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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A house is left among boulders and mud along Glen Oaks Drive in Montecito.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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The 101 Freeway is covered with mud and debris at Olive Mill Road in Montecito.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Montecito resident Terry Connery, second from left, is assisted on Wednesday by, from left, firefighters Mark Todd, John Cecena and Jeff Shea after the storm.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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A home off of Romero Canyon Road in Montecito is inundated with mud.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
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Crews work to clear debris from the closed 101 Freeway at Olive Mill Road in Montecito.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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The 101 Freeway remains closed as mud and debris clog the roadway at the Olive Mill Road overpass in Montecito.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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A member of the search and rescue team inpsects property near a home along Glen Oaks Drive in Montecito.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Ventura County fire Capt. Clay Cundiff searches a home for a woman who was reported missing by friends and family on Lilac Drive and Tollis Avenue in Montecito. She was later found safe.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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A member of the San Bernardino Search and Rescue holds a picture that was found along the East Cold Springs Creek in Montecito after a major storm hit the burn area Wednesday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Tim O’Donnell, a member of the L.A. County Search and Rescue team, searches under Ashley Road along the East Cold Springs Creek in Montecito after a major storm hit the burn area Wednesday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Travis Zehntner looks over the wreckage of a Glen Oaks Drive home where family friend Rebecca Riskin was killed.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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A home on West Park Lane along San Ysidro Creek in Montecito on Thursday.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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A Cantin family holiday card in a pile of debris in the 300 block of Hot Springs Road in Montecito. From left, Kim, mother who survived; father David, who was killed; son Jack, who is still missing; and daugher Lauren, who was pulled from the family home early Wednesday.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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A structure sits in a tree Friday on East Valley Road in Montecito.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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A dog and its handler from Riverside County search the rubble of a Hot Springs Road home Friday in Montecito.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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Water rises high near a home on East Valley Road on Friday in Montecito.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times )
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A dog helps rescue workers search through rocks, mud and debris for bodies Saturday in Montecito.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Firefighters look for missing people along Hot Springs Road in Montecito on Saturday.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Los Angeles City firefighter Jeffrey Neu gives water to Faith, a cadaver dog, while searching in a wood pile in Montectio Creek.
(Michael Owen Baker / For The Times)
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A Montecito freeway sign sits in mud on Highway 101.=
(Michael Owen Baker / For The Times)
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A view of the Thomas Fire burn zone and San Ysidro Creek in the Santa Ynez Mountains which brought mud and debris into Montecito neighborhoods.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Los Angeles City firefighter Hollyn Bullock uses a rescue tool to pry open a car door along Montecito Creek.
(Michael Owen Baker / For The Times)
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Montecito neighbors hug at a candlelight vigil outside the Santa Barbara Courthouse.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Mourners gather for a candlelight vigil outside the Santa Barbara Courthouse Sunday for victims of the Montecito mudslides.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Geness Lorien listens to speakers during a candlelight vigil outside the Santa Barbara Courthouse.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Mourners gather for a candlelight vigil outside the Santa Barbara Courthouse Sunday for victims of the Montecito mudslides.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Mark Vance shovels mud away from his house on Olive Mill Road in Montecito, California.
(Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)
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Jesse Rudnick, with the Regional Task Force 1 out of Marin County Fire and Rescue, searches for missing people around a Montecito home.
(Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)
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Hugo Bautista, left and Jose Garcia, contractors with Union Pacific Railroad make sure track is clear at the Olive Mill Road crossing in Montecito.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Amtrak has added extra trains and cars for passengers trying to get around the 101 Freeway closure in Montecito.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Crews continue to clear mud and debris from the 101 Freeway near Olive Mill Road on Tuesday, January 16, 2018. Officials said they hoped to have the freeway opened by next Monday.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Cal Trans crews work on clearing a drain along the 101 Freeway in Montecito on Tuesday, January 16, 2018.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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A worker takes a breather from directing a bulldozer driver who clears mud from the 101 freeway in Montecito.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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Progress is slowly being made as a worker and trucks traverse a recently cleared portion of the the 101 freeway at Olive Mill Road in Montecito.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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Santa Barbara Supervisor Joan Hartmann, from front left, Jefferson Litten, Hartmann’s Chief of Staff, and San Barbara City Councilman Eric Friedman, pink shirt, join others as they applaud first responders, fire fighters and law enforcement who’ve been aiding in the aftermath of the Montecito mudslide during a community meeting at the La Cumbre Junior High School in Santa Barbara.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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Margaret Stewart, with the Los Angeles City Fire Department, watches as her dog, Veya, tries to locate a victim of the mudslide along Highway 101 at Olive Mill Road in Montecito.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Authorities have not yet identified the cause of the Thomas fire or the extent that human involvement affected the mudslides, said Cal Fire spokeswoman Blanca Mercado.
But those affected by the damage are already trying to assign blame.
A lawsuit filed on behalf of four Santa Barbara County residents accuses Southern California Edison and the Montecito Water District of negligence that contributed to the damage wrought by the Thomas fire and then the rains last week. The lawsuit was filed in Santa Barbara County last week and updated Tuesday.
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The lawsuit alleges that one area of the Thomas fire was ignited Dec. 4 when, amid high winds, SCE-operated equipment “exploded and/or caught fire.” The power company did not properly maintain its equipment and the vegetation around it, the lawsuit claims, and as a result the state’s largest wildfire in recorded history created a landscape more susceptible to dangerous mud and debris flows.
“We understand that Cal Fire’s investigation is ongoing, and it would be premature for SCE to speculate about potential litigation associated with the recent mudslides,” Southern California Edison said in a statement.
The lawsuit holds the Montecito Water District responsible for some of the damage during last week’s storm. According to the lawsuit, a water main running between two reservoirs ruptured Jan. 9 and released “between 8 to 9 million gallons into creeks in the area.” Shutoff valves should have been activated automatically, but that system failed because of a power outage, according to the lawsuit.
Mark Vance shovels mud away from his house on Olive Mill Road in Montecito, California.
(Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times )
Nick Turner, general manager of the Montecito Water District, confirmed Saturday that the 14-inch pipeline connecting reservoirs at the top of the district was washed out in six spots, releasing up to 8 million gallons of water kept in storage.
The pipeline once partly aboveground is now sometimes 50 feet in the air after the ravines beneath it washed out. Access is difficult — and some crews have to reach it by foot, Turner said.
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Turner said the pipes leaked very slowly and that it was at 4 or 5 p.m. on the Tuesday of the mudslides — roughly 13 to 14 hours after the debris flows began — when the reservoirs were finished emptying. He compared it to a slowly draining pool.
Debris flows also knocked out a 100-foot section of the pipeline to Jameson Lake, which accounts for up to 40% of the area’s water supply.
A Montecito Water District spokeswoman did not immediately respond Tuesday to requests for comment about the lawsuit.
Times staff writers Melissa Etehad, Javier Panzar and Alene Tchekmedyian contributed to this article.
Sonali Kohli is a former Los Angeles Times reporter. A product of Southern California, she grew up in Diamond Bar and graduated from UCLA. She worked as a metro reporter for the Orange County Register and as a reporter covering education and diversity for Quartz before joining The Times in 2015.
Matt Hamilton is a reporter for the Los Angeles Times. He won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting with colleagues Harriet Ryan and Paul Pringle and was part of the team of reporters that won a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the San Bernardino terrorist attack. A graduate of Boston College and the University of Southern California, he joined The Times in 2013.
