Santa Barbara warns of mudslides, evacuations as storm approaches Cave Fire burn
The city of Santa Barbara is warning residents they may need to evacuate for potential mudslides in the city as rain is expected to fall on the Cave Fire burn late tonight into tomorrow.
The Cave Fire was last estimated to be about 4,330 acres with 10 percent containment. No injuries nor destroyed homes have been reported.
The Santa Barbara City Office of Emergency Services sent out an alert to residents Tuesday night, cautioning that mudslides could occur below the burn area.
The Cave Fire area is expected to get at least an inch of rainfall this week as a major storms bears down on California — prompting worries of mudslides below the burn scar area, like with the Thomas Fire in 2018.
The National Weather Service says rain is expected to arrive after 1 a.m. in the Cave Fire area, with peak intensity of between a half inch and three-quarters inches of rain per hour between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m.
The weather service warned that minor mud and debris flows are possible.
The city issued evacuation warnings for residents between Patterson Avenue, Anderson Lane and Ontare Road, then between the 3500 to 3300 block of State Street down through Las Positas Roadd, and south of East Camino Cielo to the ocean.
To view the full evacuation warning map, visit https://readysbc.org/.
This story was originally published November 26, 2019 at 10:33 PM with the headline "Santa Barbara warns of mudslides, evacuations as storm approaches Cave Fire burn."
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