Death toll in California mudslides climbs to 19
MONTECITO, California — The death toll from the mudslides in a California coastal town rose to 19 on Saturday, but a man who had also been on the list of missing persons was located alive, authorities said.
The body of Morgan Christine Corey, 25, was found in mud and debris in Montecito, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said. Her 12-year-old sister, Sawyer, had been found dead earlier.
“We ask that you keep this devastated family in your thoughts and prayers,” Brown said.
Another person who had been on the list of missing, 62-year-old Delbert Weltzin, was found alive and well, Brown said without elaborating on the circumstances.
The two developments reduced the number of missing to five from seven.
Officials also announced on Saturday that the 101 Freeway would remain closed indefinitely.
The major north-south artery that carries 100,000 vehicles through the Central Coast each day, was initially expected to open on Monday, but officials said cleaning up a five-kilometre stretch of the freeway was proving more difficult than imagined.
“It’s really an overwhelming situation and we don’t want to give an estimate that isn’t accurate,” CalTrans spokesman Colin Jones said.
CalTrans crews, aided by private contractors and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, have been working around the clock on the debris-strewn freeway near Montecito. The cleanup Saturday focused on what the agency called “dewatering” — using pumps to suck up the mud and rain water on the freeway.