Utilities Work to Repair Sewer, Water Pipes in California Town Rocked by Mudslides
MONTECITO, Calif. (AP) — Emotional residents are trickling back to the California coastal town that was devastated two weeks ago by mudslides that killed at least 21 people and destroyed more than a hundred homes.
Santa Barbara County officials finally lifted evacuation orders this week for about 1,600 people in the hillside enclave of Montecito, while thousands of others still waited for word that it was safe to return.
When he got back home. Eric Arneson, 72, dug through his refrigerator, throwing away spoiled food and chuckling at how bad it smelled. His wife Pamela took notes on each item to submit to their insurance company.
The couple initially remained in their home after the mudslides but later stayed with friends and in a hotel when their electricity was shut off a few days later.
“We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. Our lives are OK. Our house is OK,” Eric Arneson said.
The couple bought their home in 1972 and had attended church with John McManigal, who died in the mudslides.
“He was the rock of our church,” Pamela Arneson said.
Authorities warned that the returns would be gradual and many people would have to stay out until at least the end of the month.
The town’s narrow streets were clogged with bulldozers and utility trucks as crews remove mud and boulders and rebuild drainage pipes and power lines. Utility workers are also busy restoring water and sewage pipes, gas service and electricity.
Montecito was hit by debris-laden flash floods on Jan. 9 when downpours from a storm hit mountain slopes burned bare by a huge wildfire. Hundreds of homes were damaged. A 17-year-old boy and 2-year-old girl remain missing.
Village Service Station reopened shortly after the mudslides, providing fuel, food and restrooms for emergency responders.
Owner Keith Slocum said Thursday that “it looked like a Third World country” in the days after the disaster but since then crews have made significant progress clearing roads. He’s eager to learn when neighboring businesses will be allowed to reopen.
“We really could use something definitive,” he said. “I don’t know what the benchmarks are for why they open some parts and don’t open others.”
The majority of residents and businesses in and around the town of about 9,000 people have yet to receive an all-clear advisory.
Related News
From Archive
- Inside Sempra’s 72-mile pipeline with 18 major trenchless crossings
- Trump vetoes bill to finish $1.3 billion Colorado water pipeline
- PHMSA warns of heat risks in aging plastic gas distribution pipelines following deadly Pennsylvania explosion
- Infrastructure failure releases 100,000 gallons of wastewater in Houston; repairs ongoing
- OSHA seeks $1.2 million fine after fatal trench collapse in Connecticut
- Worm-like robot burrows underground to cut power line installation costs
- First tunnel boring machines complete testing for Hudson Tunnel Project
- Infrastructure failure releases 100,000 gallons of wastewater in Houston; repairs ongoing
- Construction jobs stumble into 2026 after weak year
- NWPX grows water infrastructure portfolio with Colorado precast facility
Comments