Tag archives: Debris flow
The Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics has streamed more than 30 hours of videos of events by KITP’s visiting scientists since it launched the series of curated talks from its archives in mid-March. New videos are added each Wednesday, with a recent week’s interesting entries including “Welcome to Your Brain: Why You Lose Your Car […]
A nonprofit that was started after the 2018 debris flow is getting much-needed cash into the hands of desperate hourly workers in Montecito quickly and efficiently, so that workers who have lost their jobs can pay for basic necessities like food, diapers, and medicine. The 93108Fund has given away $52,000 to 520 hourly workers who […]
Not even an epic coronavirus pandemic can slow down Abe Powell. The founder of the Bucket Brigade who became a local hero in Montecito after the 1/9 debris flow, when he led local residents in an impromptu effort to dig out their neighbors’ homes, is now taking a front-line role in educating the public about […]
I was talking to a young friend on Friday. She grew up in Montecito and is in her sophomore year of college in Santa Barbara. We were commiserating about her school, and my daughters’ local schools, all coming to such an abruptly surreal halt when my friend looked at me and said, “Same thing happened […]
At this month’s Montecito Association Land Use Committee meeting, Bucket Brigade founder Abe Powell and Montecito Trails Foundation president Ashlee Mayfield presented an update on the network of community trails that the two groups are committed to building and maintaining. “Trail repair was a top priority in a poll we took following the debris flow. […]
About four miles and 3,500 vertical feet uphill from the San Ysidro Trailhead, a Los Padres Forest Association (LPFA) work crew wearing hardhats printed in block letters with their names, are wielding hand hoes. They’re fixing a somewhat crumbling ridge dotted with small bushes and the scorched skeletons of small trees that burned in the […]
Lauren Cantin, the Montecito-raised teenager who was famously pulled from underneath a four-foot pile of mud and debris after being buried alive for six hours in the early morning hours of January 9, 2018, has appeared on all sorts of big stages in the two years since her rescue. That includes performing a duet with […]
Also in the news on the rebuilding front: earlier this week the County Board of Supervisors dedicated $10.1 million toward restoring haul routes and roads within the Montecito community and surrounding area that were damaged due to the 1/9 debris flow and emergency response. The funds were recently received as part of the County’s litigation […]
Earlier this week the Ashley Road bridge reopened after being closed for more than two years following the catastrophic events of the 1/9 debris flow. This Thursday, February 13, a reopening ceremony will be held on the bridge at 10:30 am. “Each step in the recovery and rebuilding process is a reason to celebrate,” said […]
Last Sunday, January 12, Montecito’s Cold Spring Trail was officially reopened following a two-year long closure after the 1/9 debris flow. First District Supervisor Das Williams hosted the ribbon cutting and celebration at the Cold Spring Trailhead on East Mountain Drive in Montecito. Other key people included Ashlee Mayfield, President of Montecito Trails Foundation, and […]
On January 9, 2020, Montecito residents gathered for the second annual 1/9 debris flow memorial titled, “Raising Our Light: An Evening of Remembrance, Connection and Hope.” The inspirational event was hosted by Westmont College at the Murchison Gymnasium, its stage decorated with white roses and two small Christmas trees glistening with white lights. The event […]
This Thursday, January 9, marks the two-year anniversary of the historic debris flow that killed 23 people and destroyed or damaged over 500 homes in Montecito. To mark the anniversary, a team of community organizations has collaborated to host Raising Our Light: A Night of Remembrance, Community, and Hope at Westmont College. The first annual […]
Two years ago this week, at approximately 3:30 am on the morning of January 9, 2018, a massive rainstorm unleashed a series of lethal debris flows that swept through Montecito, killing 23 people and leaving scores more injured and homeless. Two victims were never recovered, including Jack Cantin, whose father, David, also died in the […]
We hope you’re enjoying some of the lovely holiday decorations in our community. On December 4, we lit the tree in the Upper Green in front of Pierre Lafond, during Hospice’s now second annual Light Up A Life in Montecito. The Hathaway tree was decorated at Upper Manning Park by some fabulous elves that also […]
A question one often hears in Montecito this summer involves home real estate values within the dreaded “red zone.” Those currently in the red zone, whose homes were untouched by the 1/9 debris flow, ask how can they have their homes removed from the punitive evacuation red zone. To better understand the “red zone” and […]
MERRAG held its annual meeting at the Four Seasons Resort the Biltmore on Thursday, December 12. President Troy Harris listed the accomplishments of MERRAG over the past year, including the planning and execution of the Raising Our Light Remembrance Event on January 9, staffing information kiosks during the winter storm events from January through March […]
The standing room-only crowd that filled Montecito Union School’s meeting hall on the evening of December 5 wanted one thing above all else: good news. And by and large, that’s what they got from the group of city, state, and federal officials who presented their latest findings on both the winter weather forecast and the […]
In a little more than 80 days (March 3) we will have the opportunity to vote for, among other things, one of two candidates vying for the First District Santa Barbara County Supervisor seat: the incumbent Das Williams or his challenger, Laura Capps. Why does this election matter to the nine thousand plus residents of […]
On Monday, December 9, at Montecito Hall, Bucket Brigade co-founder Abe Powell hosted a Resiliency Workshop in order to roll out the organization’s newest mission: to help neighborhoods build hyper local resiliency in Montecito and beyond. “We are in a time where there is a huge opportunity for neighborhoods to build resilience, in what we […]
In the wake of the devastating debris flows of January 9, 2018 that killed 23 people in Montecito, local residents gathered together to brainstorm a safety solution that could prevent a similar tragedy. The Partnership for Resilient Communities (TPRC) raised millions of dollars to purchase state-of-the-art steel nets – high-tensile ring nets designed by the […]



