California flooding death toll rises to 17, 100 homes destroyed
The death toll in weather-related incidents in Santa Barbara County
has risen to 17 by Wednesday, after a storm led to dangerous mudflows
that destroyed 100 homes and damaged at least 300 others in wildfire
burn areas. Santa Barbara County Fire Department officials confirmed the
number of fatalities rose from 13 to 15 overnight. Then another two
deaths were added to the toll in an afternoon press conference. The
fatality figure could increase as at least 17 people were considered
still missing as search-and-rescue efforts continued “While we hope it will not, we
expect that this number will increase as we continue to look for people
who are still missing and unaccounted for,” Santa Barbara County Sheriff
Bill Brown said. More than 500 first responders and 10 search dogs were
involved in the search-and-rescue efforts. Three people were rescued on
Wednesday. Searchers believe they have looked through about 75 percent
of the debris field. READ MORE
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