OFFICIALS DEFEND MUDSLIDE PREPARATIONS

Many Californians in the area hit hardest by this week’s deadly mudslides did not heed warnings to evacuate their homes — and then received cellphone alerts of imminent slides when the massive streams of debris were already heading toward them or had already hit.

Officials defended their decision not to issue a mandatory evacuation order for the area that was hit hardest by the storm.

“This isn’t an exact science in terms of actually defining where something is going to happen,” Santa Barbara Sheriff Bill Brown said. “Obviously a lot depends on Mother Nature, on the magnitude of the rainfall, the magnitude of the mudslides and so forth.”

Brown said sheriff ’s deputies went door to door to tell residents to leave their homes. Some refused.