Montecito community prepares for storm season
MONTECITO, Calif. — Nearly four years after the deadly debris flow, Montecito residents have been mourning those that lost their lives while also preparing for the next significant storm.
Although much of Montecito has shown signs of recovery, it’s not out of the woods just yet.
“We’re past the highest risk but not quite at no risk due to our community’s very long history of flooding,” Montecito Fire Chief Kevin Taylor said.
In preparation for the winter season, the Montecito Fire Department hosted a community meeting on storm preparedness Thursday evening at Montecito Union School.
This meeting is in partnership with the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management, Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, Santa Barbara County Flood Control, National Weather Service, Carpinteria-Summerland Fire Protection District, and 1st District Supervisor Das Williams.
Representatives from the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management, Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, Santa Barbara County Flood Control, National Weather Service and the Carpinteria-Summerland Fire Protection District discussed the status of our watershed, debris flow risk level, winter storm outlook and preparedness measures.
“Healthy totals spread out over a long period of time is very beneficial,” County Flood Control District engineering manager Jon Frye said. “If you take those same totals and drop it on the ground in a very short amount of time, then that's what can lead to some issues.”
Learning lessons from the past in order to avoid another terrible tragedy, county leaders said that everyone’s safety is supported by a partnership between public entities.
“It’s a strong amount of cooperation between agencies and a strong relationship with the public,” 1st District Supervisor Das Williams said. “Also a commitment to making sure infrastructure is sufficient for the problems that we may face.”
An updated storm impact consideration map was also unveiled to those in attendance.
The map showed which areas may be asked to evacuate before a significant storm.
“The good news is a lot fewer properties are on the debris flow risk map,” Williams. “But there’s some infrastructure yet to be constructed.”
With another rainstorm slated for next week, emergency preparedness plans are already being put in place.
“It’s gonna happen again, we don’t know when but it’s not going to be if, it’s going to be when,” Frye concluded. “So prepare yourself and just be very aware of your surroundings.”
The updated storm impact consideration map is available here.
