Montecito Photos And Videos Show Flooding, Mudslides In Southern California: 'It's Worse Than Anyone Imagined'

Severe rainstorms sparked mudslides and flooding in Southern California Tuesday, killing at least five people. The situation was particularly bad in Montecito and Carpenteria, where some residents were reported trapped and others missing.

Pictures and videos from the region showed debris littered where homes stood, while muddy runoff filled roadways. Search and rescue teams were deployed to search for missing people amid the damage.

Santa Barbara County Fire Department public information officer Mike Eliason posted multiple pictures of the devastating scene Tuesday on social media, showing rescue dogs searching for people and rescue workers sifting through muddy debris. Eliason described the mudflows at one point as “waist high,” according to the Los Angeles Times.

“Heavy rains have triggered massive runoff in the Montecito area,” Eliason posted on Twitter Tuesday. “Multiple rescues from vehicles and structures are underway. Access is difficult/delayed due to some locations- waist deep mudflow, trees, and wires down. Avoid the area.”

The five deaths were reported in Montecito and Carpenteria. In Montecito, a community of about 8,000 on the coast, some homes were washed away by the floods. Recent wildfires burned through immense swaths of vegetation, leaving the land especially vulnerable to severe flooding and mudslides. In Montecito, firefighters worked for hours to rescue a 14-year-old girl trapped beneath the debris of a home, the San Luis Obispo Tribune reported. The firefighters were able to successfully free the girl. Another man was rescued from mud that reached up to his neck, according to KEYT-TV.

A portion of the 101 Freeway was closed after an immense mudslide swept over the roadway.

Officials had not yet released an estimate of how many people they believed were missing or trapped, or how many homes had been damaged or destroyed. They had also not yet released the cause of death for those who died.

“It’s going to be worse than anyone imagined for our area,” Eliason said, according to the LA Times. “Following our fire, this is the worst case scenario.”