Tag archives: flood
Public safety is a top priority of the Santa Barbara County Flood Control District. Since 1955, the District’s work has helped protect life and property through channel maintenance and capital improvements throughout the county, including work in cities. Flood Control builds major infrastructure and conducts maintenance from the Santa Maria River on the county’s northern […]
At this month’s Montecito Association Land Use Committee meeting, chair Bill Babbitt introduced Cindy Chvatal, who will be working with the committee regarding affordable housing requirements and initiatives in Montecito. Babbitt explained there are three different ways the state of California is trying to add to affordable housing supply: the Housing Element and RHNA (Regional […]
We’ve worked with California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara on a number of fronts: homeowner’s insurance (and the lack of it in California), claims, legislation, and preparedness. Last week, he hosted quite the townhall on emergency preparedness, as part of the partnership the Department of Insurance has with the Governor’s emergency response and readiness agencies. We’ve […]
December 4 marks four years since the Thomas Fire began its treacherous march from Santa Paula to the hills of Carpinteria and Montecito. We all remember the devastating debris flow that occurred just more than a month later. Every winter since the 1/9 Debris Flow, Montecito Fire has partnered with our local first responder and […]
Am I the only one noticing the dangerous speeds that e-bikes and riders who push them to their limits pose to drivers and themselves in and around Montecito? They seem to zip around as fast as motorcycles, yet no special license is required. It’s great that more people are getting outdoors and traveling farther afield […]
With over a week of wet weather, Montecito debris basins, ring nets, and creek channels held up extremely well, according to Montecito Fire Chief Kevin Taylor, who gave us an update on the weather earlier this week. Crews from County Flood Control and Public Works were in Montecito Tuesday morning, assessing the impact of the […]
Last week, Kelly Mahan Herrick‘s feature “Village Beat” piece laid out in detail how Southern California Edison plans to cut off power to certain areas depending upon wind strength and the level of danger Santa Ana and/or Sundowner winds pose to those in fire zones. As a follow-up, I conducted a short interview with Santa […]
Montecito Association (MA) members have identified three issues – water security, including lifetime independence from drought; effective recycling with re-use of wastewater; safety and security from future flood and debris flows – as critical issues facing Montecito that need to be explored and resolved as the community looks toward a better future. To resolve any […]
While keeping a wary eye on the weather this winter, residents of Montecito are watching their rainfall charts, fearful of a repeat of heavy storms and mandatory evacuation notices. Seared in our minds are personal memories of the 1/9 disaster when a massive debris flow destroyed or damaged 470 homes in Montecito, and brutally took […]
Last week, the SB County Board of Supervisors (BOS) voted unanimously to adopt the FEMA Interim Flood Map in an effort to expedite and control the rebuilding process in Montecito. As chair of the BOS, supervisor Das Williams noted, “I can’t say I’m comfortable with the option of the Interim Flood Recovery map, but the […]
Mark your calendars for June 11, 2018. That’s the expected date for the public release of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Flood Recovery Maps for Montecito. The map release will mark a critical milepost in making the rebuilding decisions that will shape the future character of Montecito for the next 50 years. FEMA Recovery […]
Last week, an overflow crowd turned out at the Granada Theatre for a community conversation titled “Drought, Fire and Flood: The New Normal” sponsored by the UCSB Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, the Santa Barbara Museum of National History, the Santa Barbara Foundation, and the Community Environmental Council. Moderating this Town Hall event […]
In the aftermath of the Thomas Fire and 1/9 debris flow, the Santa Barbara County Flood Control District installed six additional real-time rain gauges to provide enhanced rainfall monitoring for the impacted areas. In cooperation with the National Parks Service, three new high-tech gauges were installed at weather monitoring stations on the Channel Islands, located […]
