California girded Sunday for a “potentially historic” storm that put much of the state on high alert, with officials expecting life-threatening damage and issuing evacuation orders or warnings in parts of Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara and Monterey counties.
“This storm is predicted to be one of the largest and most significant in our county’s history, and our goal is to get through it without any fatalities or any serious injuries,” Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said at a briefing Saturday.
This storm could surpass the effects of a powerful storm that hit Jan. 9, 2023, said David Neels, the Montecito fire chief. That event forced the mass evacuation of Montecito, flooded Santa Barbara and left U.S. 101 covered with mud, forcing its closure. It caused more than $80 million in damage to Santa Barbara County, Brown said.
“Our slopes are saturated once again,” Neels said, adding that geologists are warning about the potential for landslides from this storm. “The likelihood of sediment mobilization is real.”
Brown said 6 to 12 inches of rain is expected for Santa Barbara County’s mountains. “But more concerning is the projected duration and sustained amount of rain that we can expect this weekend,” he said.
“Unlike the rain that caused (last year’s Jan. 9) debris flow, for example, the intensity of this storm’s rain is not expected to exceed an inch or an inch and a quarter per hour. It’s just that the rainfall will be far more sustained, over a more or less continuous period for 24 hours or more,” Brown said. “We’re anticipating the possibility of flooding of streets and neighborhoods and of our highways and freeways.”
Los Angeles issued an evacuation warning for about 50 homes and businesses along a section of La Tuna Canyon Road in Sun Valley on Saturday just before midnight, around where McDonald Creek drains into La Tuna Canyon.
The county Department of Public Works warned that heavy rain would bring significant flooding and mudflows to the area.
The National Weather Service said there was a “high risk for flash flooding,” a designation used only a few times a year anywhere nationwide, meteorologist Ariel Cohen said at the briefing.
“About half of flood-related deaths occur in high-risk areas. This includes all of the Santa Barbara area, all the way to Los Angeles. This is a particularly dangerous situation,” Cohen said.
