Evacuation Orders Lifted, Roadways Reopening

By the edhat staff

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, in coordination with fire agencies and other public safety officials, has announced that as of 2:00 p.m. January 10, 2023, evacuation orders are lifted for the impacted areas of City of Carpinteria, Montecito, and City of Santa Barbara. Shelter in Place for impacted areas of the Cave Fire Burn Scar and Alisal Burn Scar and Foxen Canyon/Santa Maria Mesa/Tepusquet areas have also been lifted.

“Please be advised that areas affected by road closures may not be able to repopulate yet. Law enforcement and fire personnel are staffing those road closures to provide further information,” the County Incident Management Team stated.

In the Montecito area, North Jameson Ln. from Sheffield Dr. to Olive Mill Rd. is closed. Sheriff’s deputies and CHP officers will be staffing that closure to allow residents through and block general traffic.

Please refer to this map for precise lifted evacuation and shelter in place locations.

“While we are able to allow residents to return home, we remind everyone that this was a serious storm that caused impacts across the County. Please be aware of loose and falling rocks, minor landslides, wet road conditions, down trees and lines,” said the Incident Management Team.

Rescuers responded to approximately 400 storm related calls within the county the past two days, including six helicopter hoist rescues on Tuesday morning.

During a Tuesday afternoon press conference, Sheriff Bill Brown stated the rain was heavier than anticiapted and resulted in historic rainfall levels. More than one foot of rain fell across the Camino Cielo ridgeline in a 24 hour period, San Marcos Pass received over 21 inches in the past seven days, and over 30 inches in the past 30 days.

Santa Barbara City Fire Chief Chris Nailes stated officials are combing through the city checking up on major and minor impact areas. He stated the city is doing well considering the amount of rainfall received, and public agencies have a solid plan moving forward.

Mayor Randy Rowse confirmed there were about 100 abandoned vehicles last night due to flooding along with one fire engine and a few fire trucks due to attempted rescues.

Rowse stated the city’s storm drains functioned very well despite being overwhelmed at times, and urged residents to stay away from cliff edges and waterways as hazards still exist.

County Public Works Deputy Director Julie Hagen confirmed all debris basins are full or partially fully. They’re working with the Cal Office of Emergency Services to get federal support to clear the 500,000 cubic yards of material from the basins as soon as possible.

Once the material is cleared it will be tested and sorted before being taken to local beaches.

On a positive note, Hagen stated Cachuma Lake will be 75% full by the end of the day. It’s expected to fill with a release of water planned for the end of the week.

REGISTER TO RECEIVE READYSBC ALERTS: If you haven’t registered for emergency alerts, please do so at ReadySBC.org. Click on the red icon to register to receive emergency alerts via text, phone call, and email.

For updated and detailed information, please visit ReadySBC.org or call Santa Barbara County’s Emergency Call Center at (833) 688-5551 or 211.

EVACUATION AREAS (AS OF 2:30 P.M. TUESDAY)

All mandatory evacuation orders have been lifted. Although, there are some streets and areas that are inaccessible due to flooding.

An interactive map can be found here.

EVACUATION & ANIMAL SHELTERS

An evacuation center is open at the Veteran’s Memorial Building, 941 Walnut Ave., Carpinteria

An evacuation center is open at the SBCC Wake Center, 300 N. Turnpike Rd, Santa Barbara. The overflow shelter at La Colina Jr. High School will be closing down this evening, please go to the Wake Center.

If you live in Mid or North County and need shelter assistance, please call the County Call Center at 833-688-5551.

For small animals call 805-681-4332 at Santa Barbara Animal Shelter. For large animals call 805-892-4484 and Earl Warren Showgrounds are open.

The County Call Center is 833-688-5551. This number also provides mental health support for anxiety or other concerns, especially relating to the 1/9 Debris Flow

Call 211 for additional information or visit readysbc.org

ROAD CLOSURES

Highway 101 is open in both directions.

SR-154 is still closed and will be into tomorrow.

Highway 166 is closed from Highway 101 near Santa Maria to Highway 33 along the Cuyama Highway.

Check here for storm-related road closures:

SCHOOL CLOSURES

Schools closed on Monday and Tuesday. Most will be back open on Wednesday with others later in the week.

See the full notice here.

AIRPORT CLOSURE

The Santa Barbara Airport began a phased reopening today (Tuesday 1/10) at 3:20 PM. All commercial airlines have been notified and will be working to restore service to and from SBA as soon as possible. Please check with airlines directly regarding flight status. The terminal and all parking lots are open. More information available at https://flysba.santabarbaraca.gov/.

MTD SERVICE:

On Wednesday, January 11, 2023, MTD bus service will run on a Sunday schedule, with Line 20 (Carpinteria) and Line 28 (UCSB Shuttle) back in service. This means that all service represented on the standard Sunday schedule is planned to operate.

MTD does not have the appropriate workforce levels on Wednesday to operate school booster service to the Junior Highs and High Schools.

On Thursday, January 12, 2023, all service is expected to resume with a normal weekday schedule. Schedules can be found at https://sbmtd.gov or by calling the Customer Service line at (805) 963-3366.

AMTRAK CLOSURE

Pacific Surfliner service will remain cancelled between Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo on January 11, 2023. This will allow crews to complete track inspections to ensure the tracks are safe to operate on.

January 9, 2023: Mandatory Evacuations and Highway Closures