Californian
authorities called for public help in locating seven people still
missing after mudslides that killed at least 18, as crews carried on
yesterday searching for survivors.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s
Office made a plea for information on any of the missing residents,
while acknowledging that finding anyone alive would be a “miracle”.
“The
missing persons were reported by family and friends, and resided in
areas that were heavily damaged during the storm and subsequent
mudslides,” the sheriff’s office said. The sheriff’s office listed the
names of the missing, who range in age from two to 62, in a statement on
Friday night.
The disaster struck last Tuesday after heavy rains
soaked the area near Montecito, north of Los Angeles, where vegetation
had been denuded by the largest wildfire in California’s history.
Sodden
hillsides gave way, unleashing a torrent of mud, water, uprooted trees
and boulders onto the valley below and causing what the police described
as “traumatic injuries” to the victims, who ranged in age from 3 to 89.
The
destruction covered 75 square km and more than 2,100 personnel from
local, state and federal agencies, including the US Coast Guard, the US
Navy and the American Red Cross are involved in “challenging” search,
recovery and relief efforts, the California Department of Forestry and
Fire Protection said.
Officials ordered residents in most of the
southeastern corner of Montecito, which is east of Santa Barbara, to
leave their homes for what was likely to be one or two weeks.
One of
California’s most celebrated roads, coastal Highway 101, was partially
closed, with mud was two feet deep in places, while in Montecito, mud
reached the roof lines of houses, as residents surveyed their damaged
homes. “We have a yard to redo and hopefully our insurance will help out
with that, but the people across from me, newer homes, gone,” Garrett
Speirs, a 54-year-old artist who has been living in Montecito for 20
years, said. “Everybody down below gone, two girls gone...Two
sixth-graders in the school our kids went to,” Speirs added.
Rescue workers search a car for missing persons after a mudslide in Montecito, California.