Tag archives: rebuilding
At last week’s Montecito Planning Commission hearing, the commissioners were briefed on the rebuilding efforts in Montecito by director of recovery Matt Pontes, First District chief of staff Darcel Elliott, and County planning staff. The County has been working the last few weeks to assign property owners to case managers and launched a new interactive […]
I must say that the events of the past few months sort of slid right past me, both emotionally and literally. I remained stoic as we got past the fires; the flames stopped six houses up the hill from me. We moved back in, sort of. And then the evacuation warning on January 7, which […]
At this month’s Montecito Association Lane Use Committee meeting, the Committee was given a briefing on the rebuilding of Montecito from Matt Pontes, the County’s director of recovery, as well as representatives from the Planning & Development department. “We are considering this ‘Phase Two’ of the disaster, trying to navigate the rebuilding process,” said Cori […]
It has been nearly a month since we were awakened in the middle of the night, without electrical power, to the drumbeat of a pounding rainstorm and the roar of a descending mountain of mud and boulders. As is usual in a natural disaster, there were scenes of personal heroism from unnamed first responders and […]
One of the unexpected gifts of the twin tragedies of the Thomas Fire, the largest recorded wildfire in California’s history, and the subsequent Montecito mudslide that engulfed our small village, has been the outpouring of sympathy, compassion, and support from our neighbors in the City of Santa Barbara, Carpinteria, Summerland, Goleta, the rest of Santa […]
On the morning of January 9, our family narrowly escaped a tsunami of mud waters and our family is lucky to be alive. When the mountain of mud came at us, we fled our home as fast as we could. My husband took one car and I took another. We went to the right and […]
On Sunday, January 28, the grassroots organization Santa Barbara Bucket Brigade, led by Montecito Fire Protection District Board president Abe Powell, began helping homeowners clear out mud and debris from their driveways, homes, and properties. Dozens of volunteers, including local contractors donating their equipment and time, have assembled to help homeowners, who are overwhelmed with […]
On Tuesday, January 23, evacuation orders were lifted on the western flank of Montecito, including Coast Village Road, which was closed for two weeks following the mudslides on January 9. Major utilities including sewer, electricity, and gas, were up-and-running, allowing most businesses to repopulate and welcome customers back to the business district, following the opening […]
