Sunday People

‘Muddy hell’ for Harry & Meghan

£11m home in deluge risk

- By Peter Sheridan in Los Angeles feedback@people.co.uk

THE Duke and Duchess of Sussex s £11million California­n mansion could be engulfed by a killer mudslide.

the’kind A new flood danger map shows Prince Harry and Meghan’s home is at risk from of storm that left 23 dead and wrecked 130 houses in their millionair­es’ village in 2018.

Coupled with the ever-present danger of wildfires as the state’s drought goes on, it’s believed to be behind reports Harry, 37, and Meghan, 40, right, might sell up. They bought their nine-bed home in Montecito, Santa Barbara, in 2020 – two years after the disaster caused by days of torrential rain.

The potential for mudslides keeps rising as wildfires have incinerate­d much of the vegetation that protects the hilly

land around the village – and it’s been slow to grow back because of the drought.

A Storm Impact Considerat­ion Map from Montecito Fire Protection District shows the home next to couple’s sevenacre estate – which lies between two creeks – in a predicted mudslide path. But the slightest deviation could see their home hit too. John Frye, of the Santa Barbara Flood Control District, warned: “It’s not if it happens again – it’s when.”

Wildfires devastated Santa Barbara County in late 2017, destroying 1,063 structures and causing $2.2billion of damage.

Terry Cunningham, 62, the previous owner of the Sussexes’ home, said: “Their place wasn’t touched during the mudslides but it’s near enough to the creek that you’d pay attention if it happened again.”

Montecito Fire Chief Kevin Taylor warned: “We are still at risk for debris flow and will be for a couple of years.”

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 ?? ?? HAZARD: Area where at-risk homes include the royals’
HAZARD: Area where at-risk homes include the royals’

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