Stricken town is all but emptied out
MONTECITO, Calif. — Most residents of mudslide-ravaged Montecito were under orders to clear out Friday as the search for victims dragged on and crews labored to repair power, water and gas lines as well as clean up massive debris.
Even those who didn’t lose their homes in the disaster that left at least 18 people dead were told to leave for up to two weeks so they wouldn’t interfere with the rescue and recovery operation.
It was another frustrating turn for those living in the Southern California town that has been subject to repeated evacuation orders in recent weeks, first because of a monster wildfire last month, then because of downpours and mudslides.
Cia Monroe said her family was lucky their home wasn’t ruined and they were all healthy and safe, though her daughter lost one of her best friends. But Monroe said it was stressful after evacuating three times during the wildfire to be packing up a fourth time and looking at spending up to $3,000 a week for a hotel.
“Where do you go when you’re a family of four and you don’t have a second house?” Monroe asked, noting that some residents of the town have third and fourth homes.
More than 1,200 workers had flooded into the town of about 9,000 residents for the search and cleanup effort.
The presence of curious and concerned citizens who had trudged through the mud Thursday to view the devastation was replaced with more firefighters in bright yellow rain gear and utility crews in orange safety vests working with chain saws and jackhammers.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said residents who had stayed behind or tried to check on damage in neighborhoods where homes were leveled and car-size boulders and trees blocked roads and littered properties had hindered the recovery effort.
On Thursday, Brown expanded what was known as the public safety exclusion zone to incorporate most of the town. That meant that even those who had stayed behind would have to leave and those who entered the zone would be subject to arrest.