California mudslide death toll rises to 17 with another13 people still missing
MORE than a dozen people are missing and at least 17 are known to have died after mudslides in southern California destroyed homes and swept away cars.
Anxious family members awaited word on loved ones yesterday as rescue crews searched for those still unaccounted for.
“It’s just waiting and not knowing – we have to find them,” said Kelly Weimer, whose elderly parents’ home was wrecked by the torrent of mud, trees and boulders that flowed down a fire-scarred mountain and slammed in to Montecino early on Tuesday.
The drenching storm that triggered the disaster had cleared out, giving way to sunny skies, as hundreds of searchers carefully combed a landscape strewn with hazards.
“We’ve got several reports of rescuers falling through manholes that were covered with mud, swimming pools that were covered up with mud,” said Anthony Buzzerio, a Los Angeles County fire battalion chief. “The mud is acting like a candy shell on ice cream. It’s crusty on top but soft underneath, so we’re having to be very careful.”
Buzzerio led a team of 14 firefighters and six dogs in thick debris. They used long-handled tools to search the muck.
Teams rescued three people on Wednesday, but they also discovered two more bodies, raising the death count to 17, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said. Thirteen people were missing.
The deluge destroyed 100 houses and damaged 300 others, Santa Barbara County authorities said.