Spring is a wonderful season in Santa Barbara. Jacaranda trees erupt in purple flowers; the air is fresh and crisp; the sun rides higher in the sky each day. Tourists and residents alike stroll State Street, shopping, dining, and enjoying the lovely weather, beautiful views, and friendly aura of the American Riviera. This April and early May have been no different.
It’s shocking, then, to remember that a mere five months ago, our coastal Eden was threatened by California’s largest wildfire in history; that the streets were deserted, shops and restaurants closed due to the unbearable amount of toxic ash blanketing the city; and that the winter holidays were virtually canceled as residents evacuated and then returned and then evacuated again.
Then, just as thousands of first responders heroically extinguished the Thomas Fire in the front country, Mother Nature unleashed a rare rain microburst that dropped a half inch of water in five minutes onto the charred landscape, causing a debris flow that brought the denuded mountainside racing down to the sea, indiscriminately taking with it homes and lives.