One year after the Montecito Mudslide hit the Central Coast, Kim Cantin said January 9th is a day she will never forget.
“It was horrible. Your house gets washed away with you in it, your husband killed, your son killed, your dogs killed, your daughter injured, I’m injured. 2018 was a tremendous loss.”
Cantin was home with her family when the mudslide swept through Montecito. Her daughter, Lauren Cantin, was seen around the world being pulled from a debris pile. Her son, Jack Cantin, is still missing.
One year later, much of the community is returning to normal and most of the mud is clear but the loss is something that weighs on Cantin’s heart every day.
“I think about it all the time. I wake up and think about where is my son,” Cantin said. “I think every morning where is he? How can we go find him?”
Cantin also thinks of Lydia Suttithepa, a two-year-old girl still missing from the Mudslide. She said through all of the loss, she is thankful for the community’s support.
Several organizations, like the Institute of Collective Trauma and Growth, are in place to help survivors like the Cantins recover.
Cantin’s daughter sang a rendition of “Amazing Grace” during the Mudslide Anniversary Remembrance event.
The mudslide killed 21 people in 2018. Two people, including Cantin’s son are missing. To read more about the continuing search for them, click here.
