All of Montecito ordered to evacuate on fifth anniversary of 2018 debris flow
Franklin Creek rises in Carpinteria during Monday’s storm.
Carpinteria Creek grows in intensity during the storm.
“Leave now.”
That was the message as Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management ordered an immediate evacuation of all of Montecito on the fifth anniversary of the 2018 debris flow that cost 23 lives in the community.
The county on Monday opened its evacuation center at Santa Barbara City College’s Wake Center, 300 N. Turnpike Road, Santa Barbara.
The county wasn’t taking any chances as heavy rainfall caused creeks to rise, created lakes in intersections, filled reservoirs past their capacities and led to a rockslide that closed State Route 154 in both directions.
As much as 10 inches of rainfall was reported in the foothills, and along the coast, three to five inches were measured, according to a map from the Santa Barbara County Flood Control District.
And residents in the Cave Fire and Alisal Fire burn areas were advised to shelter in place because of flooding. “Go to the innermost room or high ground,” the Office of Emergency Management advised on its website (readysbc.org). “Do not attempt to leave.”
Mandarin Avenue in Old Town Goleta experiences some flooding Monday morning.
On top of all that, the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department closed West Beach in Santa Barbara after 5,000 or more gallons of sewage spilled into a storm drain, then into Mission Creek, near Vernon and Serena roads. West Beach was closed from the Santa Barbara Harbor to 2,000 feet east of the eastern Mission Creek.
By the end of Monday afternoon, Gibraltar Dam reservoir was at 110.6% of its capacity, with 1,402.16 acre-feet. Also exceeding capacity were the Jameson and Alisal reservoirs.
In the Carpinteria area, Rincon Creek rose and flowed with a fury into the Pacific Ocean. Also in the area, Carpinteria and Franklin Canyon creeks were higher than usual, with the flowing water seeming unstoppable.
As the storm intensified, the rain grew louder and more furious.
A small “lake” forms at the intersection of Mandarin and Magnolia avenues. It was nearly impossible to walk around Old Town Goleta Monday morning without wading into ankle-deep or higher water.
When it came to Montecito, officials exercised an abundance of caution.
“Today is Jan. 9, 2023. We are exactly five years removed from the Montecito debris flow,” Montecito Fire Chief Kevin Taylor told reporters Monday. He said that today the Montecito watershed is saturated.
“In the last 30 days, we have had more than 20 inches of rain,” Chief Taylor said at the 11 a.m. news conference at the county government campus by Calle Real in Santa Barbara. “Today we’ve had five inches of rain. We are at risk of a second debris flow in Montecito. We have more than 200 responders and rescuers pre-positioned for that event (if it happens).”
In addition to Montecito, Santa Barbara County ordered an evacuation of Sycamore Canyon, Padaro Lane and the flooded Serena Park in Carpinteria.
The evacuation orders came on a day of flash flood warnings, and officials told the media repeatedly that no one should be out driving unless they were under an evacuation order or otherwise absolutely had to be on the road.
“As you’re aware, we have very intense rain,” Eric Boldt of the National Weather Service told reporters at the 11 a.m. news conference in Santa Barbara.
“We have already seen 5 to 7 inches of rain in the foothills,” Mr. Boldt said. He added that rain was falling at one inch or more an hour.
“We are in the midst of a significant and powerful storm,” Sheriff Bill Brown said during the same conference. He said two of the debris basins in Montecito were filling up and had the potential to overflow.
The sheriff noted a second storm system was expected today. “In addition, the winds are a cause of concern.”
Mark Hartwig, chief of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, said all of the county’s fire departments were prepared for the worst with personnel, equipment and vehicles.
Chief Hartwig noted multiple trees were down.
He warned that the embankments around rising creeks were likely weak and that it doesn’t take much water to put someone in danger.
“Six inches of moving water is enough to take someone off the street,” Chief Hartwig said. “As little as 18 inches of water can float cars.”
In areas such as Old Town Goleta, it was nearly impossible to walk around without wading into ankle-deep or higher water. “Lakes” were formed at intersections; streets became shallow creeks.
The storm’s impact on traffic was felt immediately. On Monday morning, there were more than a couple dozen or so traffic incidents on Central Coast highways, streets and roads, and that list continued to grow as the day progressed.
On Monday afternoon, northbound Highway 101 was closed south of Montecito, and southbound Highway 101 was closed at Milpas Street.
Around the same time, northbound Highway 101 was closed from State Route 33 in Ventura to Santa Claus Lane in Carpinteria. Northbound Highway 101 was also closed at Winchester Canyon Road in Goleta.
And southbound Highway 101 was reduced to one lane from Mussel Shoals to Main Street in Ventura.
Highway 101 was closed in both directions in the Gaviota area. Also in the same area, Refugio Road was closed because of flooding.
Motorists were advised to expect flooding on northbound Highway 101 in Summerland and Montecito.
Overflow and debris led to the closure of Gibraltar Road in the South Coast mountains.
East Mountain Drive was closed from the Santa Barbara city limits into Montecito.
Those were just a few examples. The list of road closures was much longer.
The biggest impact seemed to be on the South Coast, but North County wasn’t spared.
On Monday afternoon, Avenue of the Flags was flooded in Buellton. Around the same time, a mix of mud, dirt and rock was reported on State Route 246 off the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez.
Traffic hazards were reported throughout the county, from Sheffield Drive in Montecito to South Bradley Road in Santa Maria.
Traffic collisions happened as well. Among the latest on Monday afternoon was one on southbound Highway 101 at Wallace Avenue in Summerland when a vehicle went off the road, according to the California Highway Patrol.
“Fast moving water is causing dangerous conditions on roadways,” said Shelly Cone, public information officer for the city of Santa Barbara.
“Due to the quick changing nature of the storm, some areas are flooding and don’t yet have signage, so we are asking the public to stay home if possible. If you do go out, please be aware of your surroundings,” Ms. Cone said in a news release.
School districts also expressed caution.
The Santa Barbara Unified School District canceled classes Monday afternoon and advised parents to pick up their children, saying they would not be allowed to walk home. The district worked with the Metropolitan Transit District to get buses to the schools sooner than the usual 3:30 p.m. arrival time.
The district announced that schools would be closed today because of the storm and that tonight’s school board meeting would be by Zoom only.
Because of the weather, Santa Maria Joint Union High School District dismissed all staff at 2 p.m. Monday. Kenny Klein, the district’s public information officer, said a few of the district’s facilities experienced minor flooding. He said students won’t be returning to their campus until Thursday from their winter break.
Mr. Klein later reported that all of the Santa Maria district’s facilities would be closed today.
The storm also meant cancellations of today’s meetings of the Santa Barbara and Solvang city councils.
One area not impacted was the Loma Fire area. The Santa Barbara Public Works Department didn’t anticipate there would be a debris flow there, said Santa Barbara City Fire Chief Chris Mailes. He told reporters at Monday’s morning conference that no evacuation orders were expected for that area.
Because of the storm, the Metropolitan Transit District suspended service Monday night but planned to resume it at noon today.
email: dmason@newspress.com
FYI
For the latest on evacuation or shelter-in-place instructions, see readysbc.org.
Santa Barbara County is operating its evacuation center at the Santa Barbara City College Wake Center, 300 N. Turnpike Road, Santa Barbara.
For small animal evacuation, call Santa Barbara County Animal Services at 805-681-4332.
For large animal evacuation, call 805-892-4484.
For more information, call the Santa Barbara County Call Center at 833-688-5551 or 2-1-1.
If you have an emergency, call 9-1-1.
