Tag archives: Debris flow
An EVACUATION ORDER has been issued for today, Tuesday March 14, 2023, for the identified properties and areas in south Santa Barbara County associated with the Alisal, Cave, and Thomas Fires due to existing debris flow hazards and flooding. Everyone in the current Thomas Fire Storm Impact Consideration Map properties are being ordered to evacuate. Click here to access an interactive evacuation […]
We feel so lucky to live in Montecito, a beautiful community with great neighbors and friendly dogs. And you owe me $30,000. This is what I was forced to spend on legal and engineering fees trying to stop your company from ripping out our landscaping and killing our trees in order to put a large, […]
Exactly five years ago on this day, I was working with The Partnership for Resilient Communities (TPRC) to help develop a plan to contain Montecito’s occasional debris flows. Since a lot of folks are relatively new to Montecito, now is a particularly poignant time to look back at where we’ve come from, what’s been achieved […]
On Monday, the County held a press conference to thank the California Army National Guard, which has been deployed here since January 12 to clear the Randall Road Debris Basin. Darcel Elliott from Supervisor Das Williams’ office had let us know they were coming, and asked us if the Guard could use our office and […]
I’m sure I’m not alone in being relieved that our community did not have to be evacuated during the storm this past weekend. Still, I was on pins and needles wondering whether that scary alarm would suddenly come blaring from my phone, informing me it was time to pile my family, my dogs, and a […]
In my end-of-year letter, I wrote about my habitual January dread. Or as I sometimes like to call it, Janu-scary. And then January 9th reared its ugly head. Again. The coincidence of Mother Nature’s repeat performance was, to say the least, eerie. Let’s just say this is one time I didn’t enjoy being prescient. As […]
It’s been a wet and wild week in Montecito and much of Santa Barbara County, as unrelenting rainstorms came through the region, prompting two mandatory evacuations since January 4. The storm earlier this week, coming on the heels of over 20 inches of rain in the last 30 days, caused significant flooding and mudflow, but […]
The following was written after having to evacuate rapidly, with no warning, at 1 pm on January 9, 2023, from the lower Mission Creek area, where I live. Sunday night, it was a bucolic stream. It turned torrential a few hours later and turned my street into a swift river. For the past five years, […]
This coming Monday, January 9, marks the five-year anniversary of the Debris Flow in Montecito of 2018. We lost 23 community members in that disaster. Houses were obliterated, roads were covered in mud, and first responders – on active duty since the Thomas Fire broke out on December 4, 2017 – scrambled to evacuate people […]
Located at the intersection of Hot Springs and Olive Mill roads, Casa Dorinda was dubbed “ground zero” for the events of January 9th. The Debris Flow occurred in the early morning hours when over 200 on-campus residents were still asleep and there was a skeleton staff of less than 10. The torrential waters skirted the […]
Richard Schultz, recently widowed, anticipated a quiet, uneventful winter at his home in Montecito, California. Instead he found himself confronted by two terrifying natural disasters – first, the Thomas Fire, the worst in California’s history at the time, burning 273,000 acres and over 200 Montecito homes, followed by the subsequent mudslide that left 23 people dead. […]
I’m reluctant to report on our experiences with the January 9th flood. It was difficult because 45% of our home was damaged. We couldn’t even get into our property for a month to view the damage. Yet the final result turned out to be very successful. But we mourn the 23 people who died as […]
Locally, we’re coming up on five years since California’s epic Thomas Fire led to Montecito’s deadly January 9, 2018 debris flow. Which this year got me to thinking about anniversaries, my love of Decembers, and my fear of Januarys, how quickly time flies, and Moore’s Law. They say March comes in like a lion and […]
The past few years have seen some world-changing events, but nearly five years ago, our area went through a community-changing one. The impact that the Thomas Fire and subsequent 1/9 Debris Flow had on the area can still be felt today. Yes, in the hardship it brought, but also the strength, tenacity, and heart that […]
This week, Montecito became a little safer. On page 14 you can read about the ALERTCalifornia camera just installed on TV Hill that will provide 24/7 “eyes” on the Santa Barbara Front Country and eventually alert firefighters to new fire starts using artificial intelligence technology. But before you read about this exciting and potentially lifesaving […]
It was a morning nearly five years in the making: on Monday, October 24, government officials, staff, contractors, and community partners celebrated the completion of the Randall Road Debris Basin in Montecito. This project dates back to the Thomas Fire and 1/9 Debris Flow when community members expressed support for a new debris basin. The […]
The remains of Jack Cantin, the teenager who went missing during the 2018 debris flow, had reportedly been found in the summer of last year by former University of California, Santa Barbara anthropology professor Danielle Kurin and her undergraduate students. While many news and media outlets (including the MJ…) announced Kurin’s claims, the Sheriff’s Department […]
One805’s original Kick Ash Bash was a legendary gathering that will forever be etched in the community’s consciousness. This huge star-studded event and concert in early 2018 was held at Bella Vista Ranch and Polo Club in Summerland to celebrate our community’s first responders after the Thomas Fire and Montecito debris flows. But the event’s […]
One805, the Santa Barbara charity founded after the Thomas Fire and devastating mudslides four years ago, hosted a boffo bash at the Montecito Club to update its many supporters on its activities. More than 70 guests listened as Richard Weston-Smith, president and co-founder, and John Thyne, a founder and chief financial officer, outlined the popular […]
This Saturday, March 19, Santa Barbara County Flood Control will take acquisition of 630 Randall Road, the final one-acre property to be acquired in which to build the Randall Road Debris Basin. After a lengthy delay, a recent ruling by the Ventura County Superior Court has given Flood Control the green light to continue building […]
