Heavy Rain Soaks Santa Barbara Coast

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Do-it-yourself sandbag locations have opened for residents preparing for the storm.

Station 7, located off Stanwood Drive and Mission Ridge, provided everything needed to make sandbags, including shovels, bags, and sand.

Rain began around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in Santa Barbara before pausing until approximately 6:45 p.m. It intensified after dark.

It didn’t take long for surface streets and gutters to overflow, particularly along lower State Street, where some tourists and locals walked in the rain between bars.

Isaac Chang, a Santa Barbara County resident originally from Atlanta, said he didn’t mind the wet weather.

“Most of the year, California is pretty brown, and when the rain comes, we get some greenery out here,” Chang said.

Rob Tunyi, visiting from Seattle with friends to celebrate a birthday, had no issues with the rain.

“It is not that hard to drive in the rain,” Tunyi said.

His friend Steven Sullivan agreed.

“You don’t need an umbrella—it’s just water. It’s not going to kill you,” Sullivan said before the rain intensified.

Bella Summont, who lives in Isla Vista, acknowledged the benefits of the storm.

“I think this weather is great for California, but I don’t like it very much. California needs it, though,” she said.

Jade Yau, also from Seattle, bought a sweatshirt to stay warm.

“It is not a big deal for us, but we were kind of sad that the sun wasn’t fully out today,” Yau said.

Bailey Mueller of Isla Vista, however, embraced the storm.

There were flashing signs along U.S. 101 warning drivers about flooding on the freeway and local roads.

By midnight, traffic was backed up on northbound U.S. 101 near Montecito. Drivers relied on windshield wipers set at their highest speeds.

United States Forest Service wildland firefighter Joey Presley said the rain was needed during the ongoing fire season.

“We definitely need the rain. We’ve had a lot of rain the past few months, but it has not actually stopped our fire season. We were on a fire in the Gaviota Coast two days ago,” Presley said. “It wasn’t burning too much—it got up to 10 acres—but still big enough to cause a scene.”

The storm encouraged many people to stay indoors, where they could remain dry and safe.