At least 13 dead as heavy rains trigger mudslides in Southern California
At least 13 people in Montecito, California, were killed on Tuesday when mudslides swept through neighborhoods south of the Thomas Fire burn area.
The Thomas Fire devastated Montecito late last year, and mud and debris rolling into residential neighborhoods was "the worst-case scenario," Santa Barbara County Fire Department spokesman Mike Eliason said. Heavy rain at 2:30 a.m. caused "waist-high" mud flows, a sheriff's official said, and at least 25 people were injured.
Officials are still searching for survivors, and they don't know how many houses were damaged because they are unable to get to some areas due to rivers of mud. Firefighters rescued one 14-year-old girl after hearing her cries for help; it took two hours for a search and rescue dog to determine where she was, and firefighters had to use the jaws of life to pull her from the mud. The mud lifted several houses off of their foundations, and in one case, a boy was swept away at least half a mile from his home. He was found alive under a freeway overpass, but his father remains missing, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
'He adored Trump, and then rejected him'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
The Thursday Murder Club: who's in the film and what we can expect
Speed Read Author Richard Osman reveals starry cast set to play his 'septuagenarian sleuths'
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
The toilet roll tax: UK's strange VAT rules
The Explainer 'Mysterious' and 'absurd' tax brought in £168 billion to HMRC last year
By The Week UK Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published