California police hope for 'miracle' to
find missing in mudslide
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[January 13, 2018]
By Alex Dobuzinskis
MONTECITO, Calif (Reuters) - Californian
authorities called for public help in locating seven people still
missing after mudslides that killed at least 18, as crews carried on
searching for survivors on Saturday.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office made a plea for information on
any of the missing residents, while acknowledging that finding anyone
alive would be a "miracle".
"The missing persons were reported by family and friends, and resided in
areas that were heavily damaged during the storm and subsequent
mudslides," the sheriff's office said.
The sheriff's office listed the names of the missing, who range in age
from two to 62, in a statement on Friday night.
The disaster struck on Tuesday after heavy rains soaked the area near
Montecito, north of Los Angeles, where vegetation had been denduded by
the largest wildfire in California's history.
Sodden hillsides gave way, unleashing a torrent of mud, water, uprooted
trees and boulders onto the valley below and causing what the police
described as "traumatic injuries" to the victims, who ranged in age from
3 to 89.
The destruction covered 30 square miles and more than 2,100 personnel
from local, state and federal agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard,
the U.S. Navy and the American Red Cross are involved in "challenging"
search, recovery and relief efforts, the California Department of
Forestry and Fire Protection said.
Officials ordered residents in most of the southeastern corner of
Montecito, which is east of Santa Barbara, to leave their homes for what
was likely to be one or two weeks.
One of California's most celebrated roads, coastal Highway 101, was
partially closed, with mud was two feet deep in places, while in
Montecito, mud reached the roof lines of houses, as residents surveyed
their damaged homes.
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Rescue workers search properties looking for missing persons after a
mudslide in Montecito, California, U.S. January 12, 2018. REUTERS/
Kyle Grillot
"We have a yard to redo and hopefully our insurance will help out
with that, but the people across from me, newer homes, gone,"
Garrett Speirs, a 54-year-old artist who has been living in
Montecito for 20 years, said.
"Everybody down below gone, two girls gone ...Two sixth-graders in
the school our kids went to," Speirs added.
(Additional reporting by Keith Coffman in Denver, Chris Kenning in
Chicago, Gina Cherelus and Peter Szekely in New York and Jon
Herskovitz in Austin, Texas; Writing by Scott Malone and Jon
Herskovitz; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe, James Dalgleish, G Crosse and
Alexander Smith)
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