A California man filmed the shocking moment his home in Montecito was ravaged by flash floods on Tuesday evening.
Marco Farrell captured the dramatic moment on camera, narrating his family’s terror a wall of mud and water came rushing down their street and into their home.
At the start of the four-and-a-half minute clip, Farrell walks outside and notes that the water is headed their direction, shouting at a motorist to ‘get out.’
‘The flash flood is right there! Get out of here! Go! ‘ he yells impatiently at a large white van on the street in front of him.
The vehicle can be seen reversing down the street as a wave of water and debris comes into view, barreling down the road and towards Farrell’s driveway.
He then runs back into his home and can be heard telling his mother that the flood waters are breaking into their home and to wake up his dad so they can get to a higher location.
Marco Farrell captured the dramatic moment on camera, narrating his family’s terror a wall of mud and water came rushing down their street and into their home
At the start of the four-and-a-half minute clip, Farrell walks outside and notes that the water is headed their direction, shouting at a motorist to ‘get out’
He then runs back into his home and can be heard telling his mother that the flood waters are breaking into their home and to wake up his dad so they can get to a higher location
In the rest of the video, which flashes in and out of focus as he frantically runs around his home trying to get to safety, there are various scenes of devastation in the home.
Farrell takes a moment to push a sofa against one of the doors, but it doesn’t keep the water out.
In one shot water can be seen gushing through the crack in a door. Farrell then pans over to a shot of the kitchen, which is filled up to the counter top with mud.
Farrell said in an interview with ABC 7 that he, his parents and his dog went into their hallway for more than an hour – where the water over time filled to thigh-high.
‘The scariest thing was the sound,’ he explained.
‘It sounded like the scariest monster you ever heard, banging on your door.’
After the storm passed he posted to his Facebook that the family survived the traumatic incident.
‘We are alive. My parents, Lucas and I are safe,’ he wrote on Wednesday morning. ‘4 feet 9f raging mud in the house. My 4runner is gone from driveway.’
In the rest of the video, which flashes in and out of focus as he frantically runs around his home trying to get to safety, there are various scenes of devastation in the home
In one shot water can be seen gushing through the crack in a door
Farrell then pans over to a shot of the kitchen, which is filled up to the counter top with mud
The death toll from mudslides that devastated parts of California’s scenic Santa Barbara County rose to 19 on Saturday amid a massive influx of emergency crews searching for five people still missing, according to Cal Fire’s latest update.
‘The unstable environment remains a critical threat to civilians and responders,’ a fact sheet released on Saturday said.
‘The large amounts of mud and debris are making access and progress challenging. Search and rescue remains the highest priority.’
A total of 28 people have been injured as a resulted of the catastrophe, Cal Fire said.
One missing person was found alive on Saturday but chances were dwindling fast that more survivors could still be located from the torrent of mud and debris that struck on Tuesday, said Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown.
‘While every hour it remains less likely we’ll find anyone alive, there remains hope,’ he said at a news conference.
Seven people had still been counted missing at the start of Saturday, according to Cal Fire, which saw about another 900 emergency personnel arrive in Montecito, north of Los Angeles, to join the relief effort under way by more than 2,100 personnel from local, state and federal agencies, including the US Coast Guard, the US Navy and the American Red Cross.
‘We have to do whatever it takes,’ said Capt Tom Henzgen, leader of a team from the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The death toll from mudslides that devastated parts of California’s scenic Santa Barbara County rose to 19 on Saturday amid a massive influx of emergency crews searching for five people still missing, according to Cal Fire’s latest update
The ramped-up rescue effort is in response to urgent requests for additional manpower made earlier in the week. A rescue worker is pictured on Friday in Montecito
The disaster struck on Tuesday after heavy rains drenched the area near Montecito, where vegetation had been stripped bare by the largest wildfire in California’s history
The destruction covered 30 square miles, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. Officials ordered residents in most of the southeastern corner of Montecito, which is east of Santa Barbara, to leave their homes for what was likely to be 1-2 weeks
The ramped-up rescue effort is in response to urgent requests for additional manpower made earlier in the week.
‘We need that number to effectively meet our objectives,’ said Amber Anderson, a spokesman for the multi-agency response team. ‘To get people here takes time and we’re finally getting that request for influx.’
The disaster struck on Tuesday after heavy rains drenched the area near Montecito, where vegetation had been stripped bare by the largest wildfire in California’s history.
Rain-soaked hillsides gave way, unleashing a sudden, violent stream of mud, water, uprooted trees and boulders onto the valley below and killing victims, now know to be ages 3 to 89.
The destruction covered 30 square miles, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.
Officials ordered residents in most of the southeastern corner of Montecito, which is east of Santa Barbara, to leave their homes for what was likely to be 1-2 weeks.
A young mother asleep with her 3-year-old daughter as her 10-year-old nephew slumbered nearby were among those killed.
Other victims included a 22-year-old woman who died in the arms of her brother as he frantically tried to save her after their father was swept to his death by the fast-moving river of mud.