Family and friends are desperately hunting for two sisters who are missing and feared dead in the California mudslides.
Sawyer Corey, 12, and her stepsister Morgan Corey, 25, have not been seen since downpours sent mud and boulders roaring down fire ravaged hills in the wealthy neighborhood of Montecito on Tuesday.
The sisters were asleep in their home with Sawyer’s twin sister, Summer, and their mother, Carie Baker, when the mudslide hit.
Baker and Summer Corey were later rescued and taken to hospital in critical condition.
Sawyer Corey, 12, (left) and her stepsister Morgan Corey, 25, (right) have not been seen since downpours sent mud and boulders roaring down fire ravaged hills in the wealthy neighborhood of Montecito on Tuesday
Actress Sarah Paulson even joined the search effort, sharing a picture of the girls after one of the assistant directors on American Horror Story told her they were missing
Friends and family have launched a social media search for Saywer and Morgan, whose whereabouts are still unknown. Actress Sarah Paulson even joined the search effort, sharing a picture of the girls after one of the assistant directors on American Horror Story told her they were missing.
‘Got a devastating email from @nicoleburkead our 1st Ad on AHS, asking me to get the word out about her friend’s children- Please help if you are able,’ she wrote on Instagram.
‘My friends daughters are missing! Please help find them. A mudslide devoured their home at 3am. Sawyer (12) Morgan (25). Last seen 1231 E valley rd Santa Barbara. Please RT. #missing #missingperson #Montecito #SantaBarbara #mudslides.’
At least 16 are dead and many more are still missing after the mudslides slammed into homes, covered highways and swept away vehicles early on Tuesday when more than a half-inch (1.5cm) of rain fell in five minutes, a rate that far exceeds the normal flash flood threshold.
Morgan (left), and Sawyer Corey (right with her twin sister and mother), 12, were asleep in their home with Sawyer’s twin sister, Summer, and their mother, Carie Baker, when the mudslide hit early Tuesday morning
Cottages are surrounded by several feet of mud and debris after mudslides in Montecito, California, after the mudslides
US 101 was completely impassable at the Olive Mill Road overpass after it flooded with runoff water from Montecito Creek. The critical coastal highway has been completely shut down for 30 miles between Ventura and Santa Barbara
Roy Rohter, a father and the founder of the St. Augustine Academy in Ventura, was killed in the mudslide, the Catholic school’s headmaster Michael Van Hecke told the Associated Press reported. His wife Theresa, 68, was injured and taken to hospital in a stable condition. Rohter was a former real estate broker before he founded the school.
‘Roy Rohter was a man of strong faith and a great friend of Catholic education,’ Michael F. McLean, president of the college, said in a statement. ‘He played a pivotal role in the lives of countless young Catholic students — students who came to a deeper knowledge and love of Christ because of his vision, commitment and generosity.’
Rebecca Riskin, 61, of Coach Village Road, a real estate broker, and her two dogs were also reportedly killed when the mud swept down Glenoaks Boulevard, according to one of her neighbors.
‘I’m really worried about my mother and doggies,’ her daughter Julia Kate Riskin Shillings, wrote. Adding later, that her mother was not safe.
Lauren Cantin, 14, was rescued from her collapsed Montecito home where she had been trapped for hours. Video captured the moment firefighters, who heard her screams, pulled the mud-caked teen free from the mud.
The first confirmed death was Roy Rohter (pictured above), a former real estate broker who founded St. Augustine Academy in Ventura. His wife Theresa was injured by the mudslide
James (left) and Alice (right) Mitchell have also been reported as missing by their family
Josie Gower (pictured) a mom-of-two, is also missing and feared dead
‘I thought I was dead for a minute there,’ she could be heard saying on video posted by KNBC-TV before she was taken away on a stretcher.
But her father Dave Cantin, a VP, Global Sales & Marketing at NDS Surgical Imaging, was sadly not so lucky. Both Dave and Lauren’s brother Jack were swept away in the floods and reported missing yesterday.
Friends have since revealed on social media that Dave was killed in the floods, while Jack, who attends Santa Barbara High School, was rescued and is hospital.
Family friend Brian Maher said: ‘I was updated by my family that John passed and his son was pulled down the river and lived. Prayers for the family.’
Alice, 78, and Jim Mitchell, 89, who live on Hot Springs Road, on the corner of Olive Mill which was badly affected by the mudslides, have also been missing since Tuesday, along with their white poodle Gigi.
Their grandchildren Megan and Alan are desperately searching for them in the wake of the disaster.
Firefighters are pictured above rescuing a girl from the mudslide. Multiple bodies were found during the rescue operations on Tuesday in Montecito, 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles
Firefighters rescue a 14-year-old girl who was trapped for hours inside a destroyed home in Montecito on Tuesday. Rescue crews worked for six hours using the jaws of life and other tools to free her from the mangled wreckage, but she walked away
Dave Cantin (left) and his son Jack (right) were swept away in the floods and reported missing yesterday. Jack has since been rescued but friends say Dave was killed in the mudslide
‘I’m looking for my grandparents, James and Alice Mitchell. Their residence was at 319 Hot Springs Rd and the home was destroyed. I’m hoping someone out there has seen them in the evacuation shelters and can give us some info,’ Megan tweeted.
The family are hoping to find them at an evacuation center, but they have not heard from the couple since the mudslide hit.
Tyler McManigal, 28, who is stationed in Hawaii with the Navy, said he was notified yesterday that his father and brother had been swept away by the flooding in Montecito.
He told the LA Times that his dad John, 64, had rushed to wake up his son Connor after the flash flood warning went out.
The pair made it out of their home, in Hot Springs Road, but were swept up in the gushing floodwaters that ripped through their home.
Connor has since been found almost a mile away from their home, on the 101 Freeway, and taken to a local hospital, but John, a dad-of-six, is still missing.
The US Coast Guard shows Coast Guard members rescues a family of five, including the mother, father, their newborn, seven-year-old son, three-year-old daughter and two dogs after their house was overtaken by a mudslide, in Santa Barbara County, California
The Coast Guard helps the family off the roof where they had been sheltering against the floods
Santa Barbara County Fire Search Dog Reilly looks for victims in damaged and destroyed homes in Montecito on Tuesday
Josie Gower, 69, a retired nurse from Santa Barbara, is also missing and feared dead. Her son-in-law Alastair Haigh said she disappeared from the 1700 block of East Valley Road in the floods and has not been seen since.
Her friend Rebecca Brand, who posted a picture of herself with Gower, said she was ‘broken’ by the news.
‘I’m broken, my friend Josie Gower is missing. Please say prayers for her safety. #CAstorm #Montecito.’
Local resident Noni Holroyd said that Dr. Montgomery and his daughter were also missing.
At least 25 people were injured in the mudslides and dozens more were missing on Wednesday.
Multiple bodies were found during the rescue operations on Tuesday in Montecito, 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles.
‘We don’t know how many additional people are still trapped,’ Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said on the ‘CBS This Morning’ program. ‘We know there are some, and we’re still making our way into certain areas of Montecito and the adjacent areas to determine if anyone is still there and still alive.’
Brown likened the devastation wreaked by the mudslides to that seen on the battlefields of World War One.
‘Mourning the dead in our little town tonight. Praying for the survivors and preparing for whatever may come. #Montecito,’ actor Rob Lowe, who lives in the area, wrote on Twitter.
US 101 was completely impassable at the Olive Mill Road overpass after it flooded with runoff water from Montecito Creek. The critical coastal highway has been completely shut down for 30 miles between Ventura and Santa Barbara
The main line of the Union Pacific Railroad through Montecito is blocked with mudflow and debris due to heavy rains
Most deaths were believed to have occurred in Montecito, a wealthy enclave of about 9,000 people northwest of Los Angeles that is home to such celebrities as Oprah Winfrey, Rob Lowe and Ellen DeGeneres.
One person was also killed in a weather-related fatality in Los Angeles County.
Mudslides slammed into homes, covered highways and swept away vehicles early on Tuesday when more than a half-inch (1.5cm) of rain fell in five minutes, a rate that far exceeds the normal flash flood threshold.
Winfrey’s home survived the storms, but she shared a number of videos on Instagram showing the knee-deep mud in her yard, a gas fire nearby and helicopters rescuing her neighbors.
‘What a day!’ she said on the social media site as she filmed from her $50million esate in Montecito. ‘Praying for our community again in Santa Barbara.
‘Woke up to this blazing gas fire. then swipe left to see how deep the mud is in my backyard. Helicopters rescuing my neighbors. Looking for missing persons.’
Former tennis star Connors told his Twitter followers that he had to be evacuated from his home by helicopter.
Most deaths were believed to have occurred in Montecito, a wealthy enclave of about 9,000 people northwest of Los Angeles that is home to such celebrities as Winfrey (left with Stedman Graham), Rob Lowe and Ellen DeGeneres. Pictured above, Winfrey’s $50million home in Montecito
‘Montecito — fires burn- rain comes- mud slides and devastation- evacuated today by helicopter- thoughts and prayers for all !!!’ he wrote. Connors has owned an 800-square-foot home in the neighborhood since 2001.
The upscale communities of Montecito and Carpenteria, just outside the city of Santa Barbara, were hardest hit. Over the past month California’s scenic coastline was ravaged by a series of intense wildfires that burned off vegetation.
On Tuesday, emergency workers using search dogs and helicopters to rescue dozens of people stranded in mud-coated rubble in the normally pristine area, sandwiched between the ocean and the sprawling Los Padres National Forest, about 110 miles north of Los Angeles.
Rescue crews used helicopters to pluck more than 50 people from rooftops because trees and power lines blocked roads, dozens more were rescued on the ground.
Elsewhere in Montecito, a man dug a baby out of four feet of mud after hearing crying coming from the neighbor’s house.
Berkeley Johnson and his wife, Karen, had climbed to their roof around 3am on Tuesday after mud and boulders crashed into their home.
After the flooding receded, Johnson heard the cries from the neighbors house, so he jumped into action and dug for feet through the mud to find the child, who was under a pile of rocks. It remains unclear who the child belonged to.
Carpinteria resident Jeff Gallup carries his bike through mud on Foothill Road in Carpinteria on Tuesday
Elsewhere in Montecito, Berkeley Johnson (pictured left with his wife, Karen) dug a baby out of four feet of mud after hearing crying coming from the neighbor’s house.
Mandatory evacuation orders were issued mid-Monday but officials estimated that just 10 to 15 per cent of residents actually heeded the warning ahead of the dangerous storm
‘We don’t know where it came from but we got it out, got the mud out of its mouth. I hope it’s okay. I’m glad we got it out but who knows what else is out there,’ he told KSBY, holding back tears.
Karen Johnson said that she and Berkeley were rescued by fire officials after climbing on to the roof of their neighbor’s garage. The baby was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
The death toll could increase today as the search is deepened and expanded, with a major search-and-rescue team arriving from nearby Los Angeles County.
The torrent of mud early on Tuesday swept away cars and destroyed several homes, reducing them to piles of lumber.
‘I came around the house and heard a deep rumbling, an ominous sound I knew was … boulders moving as the mud was rising,’ said Thomas Tighe, who discovered two of his cars missing from the driveway in the middle of the night.’
In daylight, Mr Tighe was shocked to see a body pinned by muck against his neighbour’s home.
Heavy downpours struck before dawn on Tuesday after 7,000 residents in Santa Barbara County were ordered to evacuate and another 23,000 were urged to do so voluntarily, some of them for a second time since December.
But only an estimated ten to 15 per cent of people in a mandatory evacuation area of Santa Barbara County heeded the warning, authorities said.
Sheriff Bill Brown said that a number of deaths and rescue missions occurred in voluntary evacuation zones, where about 23,000 live.