Parts of Santa Barbara County in California that were hard-hit by December’s Thomas Fire have been evacuated, and a flash flood warning issued, due to a storm that has brought heavy rains to a region that has already seen mudslides and hotel closures in the wake of the fire.
By early Friday county officials had told the Associated Press that the worst of the storm had passed, with only reports of minor roadway flooding. The destination had been spared a repeat of the deadly mudslides that struck during a January storm.
The county had issued a mandatory evacuation order Thursday afternoon for individuals near the Thomas, Sherpa and Whittier fire burn areas throughout Santa Barbara’s south coast, including Goleta, Santa Barbara, Montecito, Summerland and Carpinteria. The National Weather Service indicated that there is a potential for rainfall to exceed the 0.5 inch per hour threshold. An evacuation map is available here.
Flash Flood Warning including Carpinteria CA, Montecito CA, Summerland CA until 6:45 AM PST pic.twitter.com/dvvNhv41M0
— @NWSFlashFlood (@NWSFlashFlood) March 2, 2018
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for an area that includes Carpinteria, Montecito and Summerland through approximately 6:45 a.m. local time.
County officials report that they will attempt to keep California’s famous Highway 101 open as long as possible in order to aid in the evacuation, with the highway open as of 4:45 a.m. local time. A closure of 101 is still possible, but not expected, officials said.
The storm hit an area that saw a number of hotel closures following December's Thomas Fire and January's mudslides, including the Montecito Inn and Four Seasons Biltmore. The Montecito Inn had had a planned reopening date of March 1, while the Four Seasons Biltmore is set to reopen June 1, according to a statement on the luxury hotel’s website.
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