While the rain appears to have moved out Santa Barbara County, with little chance of expected through at least the next week, damages and impacts throughout the South Coast and the rest of the county have been left in the wake of the back-to-back storms.
With road closures due to damaged roads, filled debris basins, damage to homes, and more, recovery from the severe storms will likely take some time.
Road Closures
Several major roads and highways remained closed on Monday due to damage sustained from flooding or fallen rocks — with roads even washed out or left impassable in some cases.
As of Monday night, Highway 154 was still closed between Highway 246 in Santa Ynez and Foothill Road/Highway 192 near Santa Barbara, according to Caltrans.
It also was shut down between Foxen Canyon Road and Grand Avenue for inspection and emergency work on the Alamo Pintado bridge.
Highway 101 is open, but has been reduced to one lane going northbound at the Gaviota Tunnel, and has been reduced to one southbound lane at Clark Avenue in Santa Maria.
Highway 1 also remains closed between Black Road and Solomon Road in the Santa Maria Valley.
Also in North County, Highway 135 is closed between Bell Street and Harris Grade Road.
Other highway and state route closures can be found on Caltrans’ Quickmap here.
Santa Barbara County road closures can be found on the county’s storm-related road closure information page here.
Other roads with significant damage include Mountain Drive, Gibraltar Road, Paradise Road, and many others, where sections of the roads have collapsed, been washed out, or otherwise made impassable.
Parks and Trails
Many parks and trails throughout Santa Barbara County have been closed due to infrastructure damage or access issues.
With many trails in poor condition after the storms, the county has closed several front country trails, and the U.S. Forest Service has closed the Los Padres National Forest.
These trails closed include the East and West Cold Springs Trails, the Hot Springs Trail, the Rattlesnake Canyon Trail, the Romero Canyon Trail, the San Ysidro Trail, the Jesusita Trail, and the Tunnel Trail.
Goleta Beach Park was also closed as of Monday due to “emergency beach nourishment operations,” the county said.
According to a press release from the county, work will occur 24 hours a day, seven days a week for about the first 10 days.
The operations at Goleta Beach include depositing sediment from debris basins onto the beach, as well as taking weekly sediment samples and ocean water samples to be tested.
“Beach nourishment operations have also protected Goleta Beach Park from further erosion by creating a wide shore near, and adjacent to, the location of the sediment deposit,” the county said.
The nearby Obern Trail bike path will remain open to commuters only, and the county said cyclists should not stop while traveling through the trail within the park.
Other park closures include Jalama Beach, Cachuma Lake, the dog park and Kiwanis Meadows area of Tucker’s Grove, Guadalupe Dunes, and the Baron Ranch and Arroyo Quemado trails.
Updates on county park closures can be found here.
The Santa Barbara Parks and Recreation Department also posted last week that the storms have cause instability along some of the bluffs, including the cliffs of Shoreline Park above Leadbetter Beach, where a large crack has been found.
Signs are posted and people are advised to use extreme caution near and below the cliffs.
Debris Basins and Creeks
Among the several debris basins in the county, an estimated 500,000 cubic yards of material, including dirt, rock, trees, and other types of debris, was accumulated, and now work is being done to clear out that material.
Last week, about 80 people from the California National Guard were out clearing the Randall Road debris basin in Montecito, working around the clock.
On Saturday, the city of Carpinteria said that Santa Barbara County Flood Control would begin clearing the Carpinteria Valley watershed debris basins, which include the Santa Monica, Gobernador and Arroyo Paredon basins, and transporting the deposited material to the Carpinteria City Beach.
Additionally, on Sunday, emergency work began on a portion of the Carpinteria Creek bank, where eroded rock and other bank material threatened the Carpinteria Sanitary District and other nearby public infrastructure and buildings along 6th Street and Palm Avenue.
Because of this work, parking will be prohibited on the 5000 block of 6th Street through Tuesday, when the work is expected to be completed.
Check back with Noozhawk for updates to this story and continued post-storm coverage.
