Residents of Montecito, an affluent city in Santa Barbara County, California, have been ordered to evacuate as ongoing heavy rains and strong winds hammering the West Coast bring record flooding.
Streets are floated in Santa Barbara’s east side. You can see a man kayaking down the street. pic.twitter.com/qrwTKtzN6e
— Ryder Christ (@RyderChristNews) January 9, 2023
At a press conference, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said that the order to evacuate resulted from the ongoing heavy rainfall. He noted that the evacuation order would impact approximately 10,000 residents and said there were no signs that the situation would improve within the next 24 hours.
According to the US National Weather Service, the storms have brought 400 – 600% more rainfall than what’s recorded on average. In addition, weather reports indicate that coastal communities in California will experience at least another five days of rain, with officials sounding the alarm that more evacuations could be on the horizon.
This news follows a state of emergency declared in California as the historic storms continue hammering the state. According to Governor Gavin Newsom’s office, at least 14 people have died, and thousands are without power due to the storms.
