Deadly flooding, mudslides hit Southern California

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UPDATE: California officials have raised the death toll from Tuesday’s flooding and mudslides to six. Five of the victims came from the Montecito area, north of Los Angeles. Rescue crews are still looking for some residents whose homes could not be reached due to downed power lines and blocked roads.

OUR EARLIER REPORT (1:35 p.m.): At least five people died Tuesday morning when a strong storm swept over Southern California, causing flooding and mudslides across hillsides denuded by December wildfires. Rescue crews pulled a 14-year-old girl from the rubble of a home in the Montecito area, just north of Los Angeles, and officials in Santa Barbara County have a backlog of 75 more calls for rescue or evacuation. The storm hit during the early morning hours, sweeping some buildings off their foundations. Mudslides destroyed “multiple” homes, according to officials, and temporarily closed a section of U.S. 101 along the border of Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

Leigh Jones

Leigh is features editor for WORLD. She is a World Journalism Institute graduate who spent six years as a newspaper reporter in Texas before joining WORLD News Group. Leigh also co-wrote Infinite Monster: Courage, Hope, and Resurrection in the Face of One of America's Largest Hurricanes. She resides with her husband and daughter in Houston, Texas.