Central Coast braces for full brunt of latest Pacific storm which may include significant flooding threats

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. - Forecasters are talking about a very serious and life-threatening warning about the storm that is bearing down on California, specifically the Central Coast.

Rain will start falling ahead of the weather front, but the biggest impact timeline of concern is Wednesday evening about 10 p.m. through Thursday morning about 6 p.m.

At times, it is estimated an inch or more of rain per hour could fall. The rainfall total will vary but forecasters say it could drop 10 inches of rain.

Generally, the streets and creeks do not process that intensity well and often there is flooding.
Already Wednesday morning waves have been crashing hard on the Montecito coastline and the breakwater in Santa Barbara.

Two boats have hit the shores.  One east of the cemetery beach in Montecito and one in front of East Beach.

Harry Rabin with the non-profit, Heal the Ocean said other boats anchored to the East of Stearns Wharf were relocated at the urging of the Waterfront Department. "We actually put a contingency plan into effect and said  get them all out of here right now.  Get them into the harbor as soon as possible."

As for the boats that were damaged on the beach, he said they are a risk of coming apart, "and also for toxins.   Environmentally we got to get them out of here as soon possible  and as soon as this one is cleared there is another one straight up the beach we are dismantling.  It's been there three days. Same thing we took gas off of it.  We don't want that stuff going out into the environment," said Rabin.

The cooperative effort on responding to the boat issue comes from the Santa Barbara Waterfront Department, the Harbor Patrol, Heal the Ocean and Marborg Industries which stands ready with heavy equipment and a crew to clean up broken vessels and associated waste.

Mayor Randy Rowse is also in on the meetings, and, as a boater himself, is working with responders to reduce the issues from abandoned and dangerous vessels.

Even though we have had above average rainfall this year the creeks and drainages have held up well including those in Montecito that twist and turn under Highway 101.   In the past some have gone over the banks and shut down the freeway.   

The has impacted commuters, commerce and emergency equipment.

Mark Hall with Santa Barbara County Search and Rescue examined many creeks, he said, "I think all the creeks have been cleaned out really well and the debris basins are cleaned out really well. It looks like the water is flowing really well through the creek beds.  Because of the debris flow they are deep enough now to handle   a lot more volume."

One vehicle was damaged by debris at a Montecito trail head but emergency officials said it was not linked to a rockslide or debris flow event. It was described as something typical in winter weather.

Direct Relief sent a rapid response team to Lower Manning Park in Montecito to help residents with sand bags. Chris Alleway said, "20-25  bags per truck.  So this pile was three times the size. It's going quickly. "

He was next to a small pile of sand that was much bigger when the effort started.

Direct Relief said it was important to help those who were not able to do all the heavy lifting. "A lot of community (members) might now be capable and at Direct Relief  we are. We want to help our local community.  We know what happened a few years ago. We want   to prepare our residents."

Sandbags are available at numerous locations beyond Manning Park, including the Santa Barbara City Yard on Yanonali St., Storke Road at Fire Station 11, and Los Carneros at Fire Station 14.

A large plume of moisture known as an atmospheric river is coming in with very strong winds,  some from the south.  That will compress the clouds into the hills and squeeze out a large amount of rainfall.

The duration where the most serious rain could fall will be about six to nine hours.   
That's enough to trigger mud and debris flows.

The Montecito Fire Protection District says between Sheffield and Olive Mill there are creeks of concern.

The storms impact will not be precise and officials are warning of a wide area of concern, especially in recent burn areas and steep mountain drops.

   
An advisory has gone out to the public with mapping to determine if their parcel is in a dangerous location.

In 1969, five years after the massive Coyote fire, a heavy rainstorm triggered a massive mountain rainfall runoff and flooding damage in several areas including Carpinteria's greenhouses and neighborhoods alongside creeks.

Homeless camps in creeks have been cleared out in many areas.

Clearing skies are in the forecast for late Thursday and Friday.

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