17 dead ID’d; 43 missing
MONTECITO, Calif. — Rescue crews continued to search for survivors Thursday amid the mud and wreckage of Montecito’s massive debris field, but acknowledged that the window to save lives is rapidly closing.
Up to 43 people remained unaccounted for following Tuesday’s mudflows, though officials said that number is highly fluid.
Earlier Thursday, officials had tallied the number of missing at eight. The fig-
ure increased as they combed through social media posts and message boards at evacuation shelters. Others who were found, or identified among the dead, were crossed off.
“It’s a constantly moving number,” said Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown, adding that he expected the current death toll of 17 to rise. The mudslide destroyed scores of homes.
The county Sheriff ’s Office released the names of those confirmed to have died, all Montecito residents: Jonathan Benitez, 10; Kailly Benitez, 3; Martin Cabrera-Munoz, 48; David Cantin, 49; Sawyer Corey, 12; Peter Fleurat, 73; Josephine Gower, 69; John McManigal, 61; Alice Mitchell, 78; James Mitchell, 89; Mark Montgomery, 54; Caroline Montgomery, 22; Marilyn Ramos, 27; Rebecca Riskin, 61; Roy Rohter, 84; Peerawat Sutthithepn, 6; and Richard Taylor, 67.
The county coroner has listed the cause of death for each victim as “multiple traumatic injuries due to flash flood with mudslides due to recent wildfire.”
Brown said authorities are expanding mandatory evacuation zones in the area because pedestrians and traffic are hindering rescue and repair operations.
People were ordered to leave if they were within the area bounded by the ocean to the south, Hot Springs Road to the west, the forest to the north, and Ladera Lane and Ortega Ridge Road to the east.
Officials said residents of that area could be out of their homes for up to two weeks.
Rescuers have searched about 75% of the debris field left by a torrent of boulders, detritus and muck, Brown said.
“It is a massive operation that we have underway, still in the search-and-rescue mode ... but as we transition and will transition to a recovery mode, we realize that this is going to be a long and difficult journey for all of us and for our community,” he said.
Emergency crews rescued three people Wednesday, using helicopters to reach residents trapped in canyon areas that were rendered inaccessible by mud, downed power lines and fallen trees.
Much of the focus of Thursday’s search was on areas rescue crews had been unable to reach earlier, said Amber Anderson, a public information officer for the multiagency response team handling the disaster.
Hundreds of people who were trapped but not injured in the slides, such as those stranded in Romero Canyon, were taken to safety on Wednesday, she said.
In some cases, the slides split families as well as homes.
Fabiola Benitez, 28, was swept away along with her husband and two children when her house was leveled during Tuesday’s deluge, according to Lori Lieberman, a family friend.
Benitez’s husband and older son were rescued and hospitalized, Lieberman said, but Benitez and her 9year-old son remain missing and are feared dead.
Roy Rohter, the founder of St. Augustine Academy in Ventura, was swept from his home alongside his wife, school officials said.
Rohter did not survive; his wife was rescued, the college said in a statement this week.
Rebecca Riskin, a Montecito real estate agent, also was identified as one of those killed, according to a statement issued by her firm. She is survived by her husband and two children, the statement said.
The flooding destroyed or damaged hundreds of buildings in Montecito and washed out a 30-mile stretch of the 101 Freeway. The roadway will remain closed until at least Monday from Highway 150 to Milpas Street in Santa Barbara as crews work around the clock to clear the area of mud, cars and other debris.
On a stretch of the freeway near the Montecito Inn, several feet of mud and rubble accumulated in the road.
“It looks like a swamp — there’s so much stuff down there,” said Jose Gonzalez, a road crew worker stationed by a bridge over the 101. “Some of the locals think there’s probably bodies in there. I hope not.”
Nearly 60 single-family residences were destroyed in Montecito and 446 others damaged, according to an update published Wednesday night by the multiagency team responding to the devastation. An additional 1,500 homes remain threatened.
The debris field also cut off gas, electricity and water to much of the area. A boilwater notice is in effect for the Montecito Water District, officials said, and rescue personnel are concerned that those who survived the slide but remain trapped soon could run dangerously low on supplies.
From above, the debris field appears as a near-endless swath of brown, interrupted occasionally by roof tiles of inundated homes and clouds of smoke from smoldering structures.
In a rescue helicopter surveying the damage, National Guard Chief Warrant Officer Sean Quillin said the shock and speed of the mudslide had left nearly every survivor shaken.