Tag archives: mud
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 […]
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 […]
The Santa Barbara Bucket Brigade has moved into a new phase of recovery from the Montecito Debris Flow, one that focuses on mud removal from public places and other manners of outdoor beautification. But a couple of local artists who are connected to Santa Barbara area colleges have beaten them to the punch, dipping into […]
Heal the Ocean (HTO) has received numerous (some irate) phone calls regarding the mud being deposited on Goleta and Carpinteria beaches. Television media has also called for a response from us. We told them, and everyone else, we were investigating and would let everyone know when we knew the answer. We at HTO don’t believe […]
At this month’s Montecito Association meeting on February 13, the board began by holding the 70th annual assembly to install new board members a month later than originally planned. Members of the board, as well as a standing-room-only audience, held a moment of silence for the members of our community who perished in the January […]
The catastrophic fire and flood of 2017-18 has changed the face of a number of parts of Montecito for years to come. The mud and debris flow that came down the mountains behind us tossed cars around like Tinker toys and ripped homes off their foundations, filling the landscape with toxic mud and mold. Many […]
It was a double whammy. First the fire, and then came the flood. And, in this case, it wasn’t so much a “flood” as a debris-laden runoff from the denuded hills above Montecito. The flow of boulders, mud, and timber that came crashing down, crafted a direct route from the burn area to the ocean, […]
(photos courtesy MFPD chief Chip Hickman) Most in Montecito have no idea how close we came to community decimation two weeks before Christmas. At 6 am Saturday, December 16, 2017, sundowner winds of 30 mph, gusting up to 60 mph, drove the Thomas wildfire, the largest in California history, past the firefighter containment lines on […]
On Tuesday, January 9, 2018, Montecito endured the most catastrophic natural disaster of the last several decades as a rain storm created multiple mudslides and flooding, taking the lives of at least 13 people. As of press time, more than 25 Montecito residents remain unaccounted for; there are also dozens of homes lost and even […]
