January 8, 2018
By Doyle Rice
Last year's disasters killed 362 people in the U.S., including Puerto Rico, NOAA said. However, NOAA climatologist Adam Smith said the death toll could increase based on information that continues to come in from Puerto Rico.
It was also the most expensive hurricane season on record at $265 billion and the costliest wildfire season on record at $18 billion, Smith said.
The news comes only weeks after the House passed an $81 billion disaster aid package. The Senate did not take up the bill and is working on its own version.'
...Rainfall from Harvey caused massive flooding that displaced more than 30,000 people and damaged or destroyed more than 200,000 homes and businesses, NOAA said....
It looks as though 2018 is off to the same start. There is not a death toll listed for 2017.
The death toll for the USA will reach into the thousands when all are counted in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
January 9, 2018
By James Queally, Joseph Serna and Michael Livingston
At least eight people (click here) were killed Tuesday when a rainstorm sent mud and debris coursing through Montecito neighborhoods and left rescue crews to scramble through clogged roadways and downed trees to search for victims.
The deluge that washed over Santa Barbara County early Tuesday was the worst-case scenario for a community that was ravaged by the Thomas fire only a few weeks earlier. In just a matter of minutes, pounding rain overwhelmed the south-facing slopes above Montecito and flooded a creek that leads to the ocean, sending mud and massive boulders rolling into residential neighborhoods, according to Santa Barbara County Fire Department spokesman Mike Eliason
“It’s going to be worse than anyone imagined for our area,” he said. “Following our fire, this is the worst-case scenario.”
Eight people were killed and at least twenty-five were injured after a heavy band of rain struck around 2:30 a.m. causing “waist-high” mudflows, according to Kelly Hoover, a spokeswoman for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office. She could not offer any specifics about the deceased, except that all eight had died in Montecito....
California did all they could to protect people. Mudslides follow wildfires.
January 9, 2018
By Darran Simon
Thousands of Southern Californians (click here) were ordered to evacuate Monday amid fears that heavy rainfall could trigger mudslides in regions charred by wildfires.
The wildfires, including several blazes last year, have burned acres of protective brush on hillsides, leaving little to no vegetation to prevent mudslides and debris flow, The first major storm of this rainy season was expected to drench Ventura and Santa Barbara counties and Los Angeles overnight Monday through Tuesday.
In Santa Barbara County, more than 6,000 people were under mandatory evacuation orders, including residents in parts of Carpinteria, Montecito and Goleta, located below areas scorched by the wildfires over the past year and a half. Those fires included the massive Thomas Fire that started in December and is still not completely out, according to Gina DePinto, a county spokeswoman.
Voluntary evacuation warnings were in effect for another 20,000 people, including others in those same communities, she said.
Los Angeles County officials issued mandatory evacuation orders for residents of Kagel Canyon, Lopez Canyon and Little Tijunga Canyon, areas affected by the Creek Fire. Police and fire officials in Los Angeles helped with evacuations in areas damaged by the Creek and Fish fires, officials said....
...Rainfall from Harvey caused massive flooding that displaced more than 30,000 people and damaged or destroyed more than 200,000 homes and businesses, NOAA said....
The death toll for the USA will reach into the thousands when all are counted in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
January 9, 2018
By James Queally, Joseph Serna and Michael Livingston
At least eight people (click here) were killed Tuesday when a rainstorm sent mud and debris coursing through Montecito neighborhoods and left rescue crews to scramble through clogged roadways and downed trees to search for victims.
The deluge that washed over Santa Barbara County early Tuesday was the worst-case scenario for a community that was ravaged by the Thomas fire only a few weeks earlier. In just a matter of minutes, pounding rain overwhelmed the south-facing slopes above Montecito and flooded a creek that leads to the ocean, sending mud and massive boulders rolling into residential neighborhoods, according to Santa Barbara County Fire Department spokesman Mike Eliason
“It’s going to be worse than anyone imagined for our area,” he said. “Following our fire, this is the worst-case scenario.”
Eight people were killed and at least twenty-five were injured after a heavy band of rain struck around 2:30 a.m. causing “waist-high” mudflows, according to Kelly Hoover, a spokeswoman for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office. She could not offer any specifics about the deceased, except that all eight had died in Montecito....
California did all they could to protect people. Mudslides follow wildfires.
January 9, 2018
By Darran Simon
Thousands of Southern Californians (click here) were ordered to evacuate Monday amid fears that heavy rainfall could trigger mudslides in regions charred by wildfires.
The wildfires, including several blazes last year, have burned acres of protective brush on hillsides, leaving little to no vegetation to prevent mudslides and debris flow, The first major storm of this rainy season was expected to drench Ventura and Santa Barbara counties and Los Angeles overnight Monday through Tuesday.
In Santa Barbara County, more than 6,000 people were under mandatory evacuation orders, including residents in parts of Carpinteria, Montecito and Goleta, located below areas scorched by the wildfires over the past year and a half. Those fires included the massive Thomas Fire that started in December and is still not completely out, according to Gina DePinto, a county spokeswoman.
Voluntary evacuation warnings were in effect for another 20,000 people, including others in those same communities, she said.
Los Angeles County officials issued mandatory evacuation orders for residents of Kagel Canyon, Lopez Canyon and Little Tijunga Canyon, areas affected by the Creek Fire. Police and fire officials in Los Angeles helped with evacuations in areas damaged by the Creek and Fish fires, officials said....
