California mudslides: Death toll rises to 20, 4 still missing
Rivers of mud wreak havoc in California 01:14
(CNN)At
least 20 people have died as a result of the mudslides that devastated
Montecito, California, according to the California Department of Fire
and Forestry Protection.
The
Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office announced Sunday that 30-year-old
Pinit Sutthithepa had been found dead on Saturday. Four people, ranging
in age from 2 to 53, remain missing.
Sutthithepa's
2-year-old daughter, Lydia, is among the missing, the sheriff's office
said. Sutthithepa's 6-year-old son, Peerawat, and his 79-year-old
father-in-law, Richard Loring Taylor, were both found dead on January 9.
The
mudslides came in the early morning hours of Tuesday, destroying an
estimated 65 homes and damaging hundreds of others, the Cal Fire release
said.
Rescue crews continue to
sift through mud and wreckage looking for the missing, said Cal Fire,
adding, "The large amounts of mud and debris are making access and
progress challenging."
Santa
Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown announced Saturday that search and
rescue crews had found the body of 25-year-old Morgan Corey, whose 12-year-old sister, Sawyer, was found dead earlier in the week.
Those
killed ranged in age from 3 to 89, and all lived in Montecito in Santa
Barbara County, northwest of Los Angeles, authorities said.
Officials have stressed they expect the number of missing persons "to fluctuate significantly."
Rescuers
have been searching frantically for the missing since rivers of mud and
boulders plowed through neighborhoods in and near Montecito, an affluent seaside community east of Santa Barbara, demolishing homes and leaving roads impassable.
"In
disaster circumstances, there have been many miraculous stories of
people lasting many days. We certainly are searching for a miracle right
now," Brown said Thursday.
"But realistically we suspect that we are going to continue to have discovery of people who were killed in this incident."
US
101, a major freeway connecting Northern and Southern California,
remains closed. It's not clear when the highway -- which officials had
said would reopen on Monday -- will be cleared for travel.
The exact timing of the freeway's reopening is unknown, California Highway Patrol Captain Cindy Pontes said Friday.
Evacuation zone increased
The
areas where people were killed are under mandatory evacuation, and
officials increased the size of the evacuation zone Thursday as
authorities continue their search and rescue efforts.
"We
know that this a terribly inconvenient development, but it is also
incredibly necessary," Brown said. "This entire area is a very active
rescue and recovery and repair zone right now."
