LOS ANGELES — Exactly five years after a devastating mudslide killed 23 people and destroyed more than 100 homes in coastal Montecito, California, about 10,000 residents of the Santa Barbara County community and its surrounding canyons were ordered to evacuate Monday amid the downpours that continue to pound the state.
The National Weather Service said up to 8 inches of rain had fallen in 12 hours, and plenty more was expected. In the late afternoon, the service’s Los Angeles office tweeted out a warning about “DANGEROUS LIFE THREATENING FLASH FLOODING” in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.
The canyon communities under evacuation orders around Montecito are below hillsides burned bare in recent years by wildfires. There were also evacuations in the city of Santa Barbara.