Residents pray for victims of Southern California mudslides as toll hits 20

MONTECITO, Santa Barbara County — Parishioners prayed Sunday for those killed and for families still searching for missing relatives in the Southern California community ravaged by mudslides.

Authorities announced another body had been found, increasing the death toll to 20, while the list of missing has shrunk to four.

The body of Pinit Sutthithepa, 30, was discovered Saturday. His 2-year-old daughter, Lydia, remained missing. His 6-year-old son, Peerawat, and his 79-year-old father-in-law, Richard Loring Taylor, also were killed in the mudslides.

Because most churches in Montecito are in an evacuation area, many worshipers attended services in nearby communities. At a church in Santa Barbara, they carried flowers, lit candles and prayed for the families that have lost loved ones.

“Our whole community is devastated,” Hannah Miller said at Trinity Episcopal Church. “There isn’t anyone who doesn’t know someone who has been affected by this disaster. It is truly awful. We can just pray they find those poor missing people.”

In the disaster area, firefighters went door to door to check the structural stability of the houses damaged by a powerful rainstorm that preceded the mudslides and scoured what’s left of toppled homes and mangled cars as they searched for the missing.

Search and rescue operations ended Sunday, and authorities transitioned to a search and recovery phase, Sheriff Bill Brown announced. The move allows officials to release resources that are no longer needed and allow search operations to slow to a safer pace, he said.

The storm sent flash floods cascading through mountain slopes that were burned bare by a huge wildfire in December.

Crews have made it a priority to clear out debris basins and creek canals before another rainstorm. Long-range forecasts gave the crews about a week before the next chance of rain — and potential new mudslides — although the precipitation is expected to be light.

“If we don’t get those debris basins cleaned out, then we’re not going to be prepared for the storm and we don’t know what that storm is going to look like,” said Robert Lewin, Santa Barbara County’s emergency management director.

Tuesday’s mudslides ravaged the tony community, destroying at least 65 homes and damaging more than 460 others, officials said.

The rest of the community’s infrastructure also was damaged. Some streets were cracked in half, and authorities closed bridges and overpasses because they were unstable. The U.S. 101 freeway and many roads remain closed indefinitely.

Much of the community of about 9,000 residents remained under mandatory evacuation orders as crews removed debris and worked to restore water and power service. There is no timeline for allowing residents to return, Assemblywoman Monique Limón said.