More than one and a half inches of rain hit southern Santa Barbara County within a single hour Saturday night sending first responders to rush to 50-storm-related calls.
Firefighters responded to many flood-damaged homes, downed wires, fallen trees, and gas leaks throughout Montecito.
Tina C., a resident describes what she saw.
“We first saw the lightning and then we heard the thunder and then, you know, we had our windows open and then we started hearing like really hard, loud noises,” Tina said.
California Highway Patrol and Caltrans officials closed Highway 101 near Sheffield Drive in both directions around 10 p.m. Saturday. Eight people and a dog were rescued from vehicles over several hours. Hail contributed to some drivers crashing their cars, vehicles were also flooded and some people were left stranded in the cold. One driver was treated for hypothermia.
“We went out, we opened the front door, and that's when we saw like giant pieces of hail just coming down from the sky,” Tina said.
Locals near the beach saw lightning hit the ocean while the hail did some damage.
“Damaged a couple of our umbrellas, some plants mostly. It was a little hard to see the ocean, but the trees were going crazy,” Bryan Barnett, a resident said.
Highway 101 opened up again just after 7 a.m. Sunday.
While several other streets were closed due to the flooding, road crews expected to have most of them open by late Sunday.
With the possibility of more rain and high winds, emergency workers are urging drivers to stay alert behind the wheel.
This weather combination can lead to changing, even dangerous road conditions.
