The 1/9 Debris Flow Was Not So Rare

Montecito Has Been Hit by Four Larger Debris-Charged Events During Past 200 Years, Researchers Say

The debris flow of Jan. 9, 2018 killed 23 people and damaged or destroyed 500 structures in Montecito. According to a new study based on the historical record, it was one of five massive debris flows or debris-laden floods that permanently altered the topography of the community in the past 200 years. | Credit: Mike Eliason / S.B. County Fire Dept.

The bulldozers are back at Randall and East Valley roads this month, working on the final phase of the Montecito’s newest debris basin — a giant bowl designed to trap boulders and fallen trees and help protect the downstream homeowners on San Ysidro Creek from catastrophic debris flows.

When it is finished in late August, the $10 million Randall Road basin will be the fifth on Montecito’s deadly creeks. The older basins on Cold Springs, San Ysidro, and Romero creeks were quickly overwhelmed after the pre-dawn deluge of January 9, 2018, and could not prevent the worst impacts of the raging rivers of mud, boulders, and fallen trees that engulfed whole neighborhoods: 23 fatalities, 500 structures damaged or destroyed, 1,000 rescues in the first 24 hours, closure of Highway 101 for 13 days, and $1 billion in economic losses.

Montecito will be somewhat better protected next time — and there will be a next time. To help get ready, the county has spent $800,000 expanding the Cold Springs basin by 50 percent. Next year, work will begin on a sixth debris basin on Buena Vista Creek, for $3 million.