CA Mudslides: Death Toll Up, More Rain Possible

MONTECITO, CA -- Rescuers scrambled Saturday to find more victims of a destructive mudslide that swept away homes in wealthy Santa Barbara County community and killed at least 19 people. As of Saturday, officials said there were six people who were still reported missing.

The feared mudslides came after rain slammed down on the region Monday night, just weeks after the area was devastated by the Thomas Fire, the largest wildfire in California history that wasn't contained until this week. Roughly 65 homes were destroyed and another 462 were damaged in Montecito, an affluent city home to celebrities. At least 28 people were injured, officials said.

But the injured were among the lucky ones as the community mourned the dead, one victim was a girl who was just 3 years old.

By Saturday, more than 2,100 personnel from Southern California were working to find more victims and clear the debris as mandatory evacuations were still in place. The 101 freeway, a popular road for motorists, remained closed as piles of mud still covered the lanes.

The Victims

The death toll rose to 18 on Friday night as the community grieved their loved ones. Stories of the dead also surfaced on social media and in news stories. One victim was Peter Fleurat, 73, an outdoors enthusiast who was a member of the Ventura County Koi Society, and another was Peerawat Sutthithepa, 6, "a boy with big brown eyes and a toothy grin who was known as Pasta," the Los Angeles Times reported.

The 16 other victims were named by the Santa Barbara County coroner:

• David Cantin, 49
• James Mitchell, 89
• Mark Montgomery, 54
• Jonathan Benitez, 10
• Marilyn Ramos, 27
• Kailly Benitez, 3
• John McManigal, 61
• Martin Cabrera-Munoz, 48
• Sawyer Corey, 12
• Richard Taylor, 79
• Joseph Francis Bleckle, 87
• Josephine Gower, 69
• Rebecca Riskin, 61
• Roy Rohter, 84
• Alice Mitchell, 78
• Caroline Montgomery, 22
• Morgan Christine Corey, 25

As loved ones grieved over the losses, others took it to online fundraising platforms to help the victims recover. A spokeswoman for GoFundMe said several campaigns have been created for Montecito residents, including the Benetiz family, who lost three members of their family during the rainstorm, mother Marilyn, and children Jonathan and Kailly. Father, Victor, and son, Antonio, survived the mortifying disaster, while one other family member remains missing, the GoFundMe page said.

"But the miracle of this story is that baby Ian was found covered with mud, far from the house but alive," the page said. "(They) have lost everything: the house they were renting and all their belongings, their tools and truck for gardening, and most tragic of all, almost every family member."

Another GoFundMe page was created for the family of the teenage girl whose rescue was captured on camera. The video was watched by millions around the world showing rescuers pulling a girl from below the mud.

"I thought I was dead for a minute there," the girl said. Two of her family members remain missing, the page said.

At least six people still remain missing, officials said Saturday. The missing include:

• John “Jack” Cantin, 17
• Faviola Benitez Calderon, 28
• Pinit Sutthithepa, 30
• Lydia Sutthithepa, 2
• Delbert Weltzin, 62
• John “Jack” Keating, 53

Rain Possible Next Week

The region experienced dry weather the remainder of the week, giving residents and rescuers the opportunity to recover from the mudslides and the Thomas Fire. But, forecasters predicted a slight chance of rain next Thursday for Montecito and the surrounding communities.

Even a small amount of rain could create a dangerous mudslide, NPR reported.

A geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, Francis Rengers, told NPR the "prediction was about a half an inch in an hour could cause a debris flow. And what we saw in Montecito, one of the rain gauges showed half an inch in five minutes."

"Mudslides have been a fact of life in Southern California for decades. The National Weather Service's list of floods, mudslides, debris flows and landslides in the area is over 60 pages long. After the La Conchita landslide that killed 10 people in Jan. 2005, the USGS said historical evidence showed that equally destructive landslides would keep happening," NPR reported.

--Photo: Emergency crew members search an area damaged by storms in Montecito, Calif., Friday, Jan. 12, 2018. The number of missing after a California mudslide has fluctuated wildly, due to shifting definitions, the inherent uncertainty that follows a natural disaster, and just plain human error. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Also See:

CA Mudslides: 'Searching For Miracles'

OC Search & Rescue Dog Jester Aids In Montecito Mudslide Rescue