Montecito Miracle for Kirsts
It is an extraordinary tale of grit and survival.
So much so that this illustrious organ’s bridle correspondent, Lynn Kirst and her 93-year-old mother, Colleen, were flown to New York last week by the NBC network to appear with Megyn Kelly on the Today show.
In the 10-minute segment, the dynamic duo recounted in harrowing detail how they narrowly escaped certain death when a killer mudslide swept away Lynn’s longtime Montecito home.
“It was like a living monster coming toward us, and I found myself chest-deep in mud within seconds, while it came up to mother’s chin,” she calmly explained. “It was a miracle we survived.”
Ironically, Colleen had been under mandatory evacuation from her East Mountain Drive home the day before because of the Thomas Fire and had moved into Lynn’s house, a short distance from Coast Village Road, bringing her treasured valuables to safeguard them from the blaze.
On the day of the water-fed disaster, Lynn had woken up and noticed the plug-in lights in the electrical sockets had all been extinguished.
“I heard this very heavy rain. Colleen was asleep on the sofa and I went out to see her. I saw a glow in the mountains and saw the mud coming straight at us. It engulfed the garden, and we ran into the library as the debris flow blasted through the doors.
“Thankfully, the house is so well-built [that] the walls held. It was like a dam and the mud came right up to my chest. I’m 5’8” and my mom 5′, so it was up to her chin. I somehow cleared my way through the debris to the patio and dragged my mother out, wrapping myself around her for two hours. I really thought the gas line was going to explode.
“We just stayed on the pile of debris, which was like an island. The entire neighborhood was a massive debris field. I saw my pickup truck and punched in the door combination and managed to get my mom, whose legs were stuck under a metal bar.
“There was so much debris in the wheel well, we couldn’t move but stayed in the truck for an hour until firefighters arrived. They rocked us free from the debris and we loaded other neighbors. My truck was like a bulldozer, and one of the firemen drove us out. My dad’s spirit was with us.
“The truck was totaled with smoke billowing from the front, but we got on to Olive Mill Road and eventually ended leaving it on Coast Village Road absolutely wrecked. Then we called an ambulance given my mother was in shock, as was I, and went to Goleta Valley Hospital.”
A film crew from the NBC current affairs show Dateline was in our rarefied enclave filming the carnage and asked Lynn if she’d recount her harrowing escape on Today, so the tony twosome jetted to Manhattan for their appearance at the Rockefeller Center studio.
“It was a nice break after what we had gone through, and we were glad to let everyone else in America know what our community had suffered,” added Lynn, who is now living in a rental property until her home can be repaired.
“But I fear it is pretty much destroyed.”
