The entirety of Santa Barbara County is under a flash flood warning from the deluge overnight, and even heavier rains are expected between 3 and 7 p.m. today.
County emergency managers gathered for a press conference this morning, expecting to announce an evacuation order for areas scarred by recent burns — as recent as the Thomas Fire in 2018. Instead, they decided they wanted people to shelter in place given the flash flood warnings in place through 4:45 p.m. The evacuation order is expected to follow.
The heavy rains for today are not yet over, Ariel Cohen with the National Weather Service said this morning. "It's only a matter of time," he said, before the afternoon cold front squeezes out torrents of rain from a long line of clouds streaming in from the Pacific.
