Montecito area hit by mudslides was not under mandatory evacuation

The area of Montecito where three homes were destroyed on Tuesday wasn’t in a mandatory evacuation area, according to the interactive evacuation map prepared by Santa Barbara County ahead of the devastating winter storm.

That area — the 300 block of Hot Springs Road — along with the coastal areas of Summerland and Carpinteria, were listed as being under a voluntary evacuation warning, according to the map. Officials told the Los Angeles Times that the area had been under voluntary evacuation during the Thomas Fire, so authorities issued only voluntary evacuation orders there Monday.

According to the National Weather Service, the maximum rainfall amounts for Montecito, Summerland and Carpinteria occurred between 3:30 a.m. and 3:45 a.m.

At the peak of the rain, Montecito received about 0.54 inches of rain in five minutes and Carpinteria received 1.11 inches of rain in 30 minutes, the NWS reported.

Mandatory evacuation orders had been issued for the areas above Montecito and Carpinteria, which are closer to the Thomas Fire burn area. About 7,000 people were placed under mandatory evacuation and 23,300 people had been given voluntary evacuation warnings, according to Noozhawk.

All eight of the people killed by the storm were found in Montecito, according to the Los Angeles Times. Additional details were not immediately available.

Photos and video taken by Mike Eliason, the public information officer for the Santa Barbara County Fire Department show Highway 101 flooded with runoff water from Montecito Creek. Highway 101 is closed from Highway 126 in Ventura to Milpas Street in Santa Barbara until further notice, according to Caltrans.

This story was originally published January 9, 2018 at 12:57 PM with the headline "Montecito area hit by mudslides was not under mandatory evacuation."