After Thursday night's predicted deluge proved to be more of a fizzle than a faucet, Montecito residents were allowed to trickle back home as Sheriff Bill Brown lifted the county’s mandatory emergency evacuation orders issued the day before. “We will henceforth cease and desist dragging people out of their homes,” a somber-faced Brown said.
Brown declined to comment on any of 313 individuals who declined to evacuate when instructed to do so by his deputies. Brown warned that future evacuations may yet prove necessary given the volatility of the hillsides scorched and torched during the recent Thomas Fire. “Have I said this is the ‘new normal?’” he asked. “Well, this is the new normal.”
Santa Barbara County Emergency Operations Czar Robert Lewin credited the intense clean-up efforts led by county Flood Control Czar Tom Fayram to clear creek beds and debris basins in anticipation of storms capable of triggering mudslides and debris flows. “The rains came as predicted but our creeks were up to the challenge,” he said. “I just want to say Tom Fayram is my hero,” Lewin gushed. Fayram, when reached for comment, gushed back, “I just want to say Rob Lewin is my hero.”
