At least 13 people are dead amid “waist-deep” mudslides and homes were swept from their foundations on Tuesday in Southern California, where heavy rains triggered flooding, say officials.
Rescue crews used helicopters to lift people to safety because of blocked roads, and firefighters slogged through waist-high mud to pull a muck-covered 14-year-old girl who had been trapped for hours in the ruins of her home in Montecito, north-west of Los Angels.
Santa Barbara County spokesman David Villalobos said most deaths have occurred in Montecito, a wealthy enclave that is home to such celebrities as Oprah Winfrey, Rob Lowe and Ellen DeGeneres . At least 25 people were injured.
Many houses were destroyed, and residents were unaccounted for in neighborhoods inaccessible due to downed trees and power lines, he said. The mud was reported to be up to 5ft (1.5 meters) deep in places.
“We’re performing multiple rescues. There will be more,” Zaniboni said, adding that some of those brought to safety were buried in mud. There was a backlog of scores of callers requesting help.
Sally Brooks said a “boulder slide” occurred outside her home adjacent to Carpinteria in the dead of night. “We were laying in bed listening to the rain, and out of nowhere our bed just started shaking, and we could hear just this, like, thunder,” she told KTLA-TV.
Forecasters said the maximum rainfall occurred in a 15-minute span starting at 3.30am near the Montecito, Summerland and Carpinteria areas of Santa Barbara County. Downtown San Francisco got a record 3.15in (8cm) of rain on Monday, smashing the old mark of 2.36in (6cm) set in 1872.
Crews worked to clear debris from roads across the Los Angels metropolitan area. Nearly 30 miles of the highway were shut down at one point.
> Shiuly Akter