[Click here for a Noozhawk gallery of photographs from Wednesday’s storm.]
Moderate to heavy rain was falling across Santa Barbara County on Wednesday as the season’s second major El Nino storm moved through the region.
As of noon, rainfall totals since midnight included 1.62 inches in Goleta, 1.58 inches at UCSB, 1.49 at the Stanwood Fire Station and 1.38 inches in Santa Barbara.
A band of heavy showers was visible on Dopler radar, and minor mud and rock slides were reported in several locations, including Highway 154 over San Marcos Pass.
Street flooding was reported throughout the South Coast, with vehicles stranded at some intersections due to clogged culverts and drains.
Eight people were rescued from stranded vehicles in Goleta after a storm drain clogged and flooded the intersection at Calaveras and Calle Real.
A Santa Barbara County Fire Department engine responded to find two cars stranded, with water up to the doors, trapping the people inside, Capt. Dave Zaniboni said.
An elderly man was carried out of his Cadillac into the fire engine, and then firefighters rescued six children and the adult driver from a minivan, which was on its way to drop the kids at school.
No one was injured and crews were on scene to clear the flooding, Zaniboni said.
There was some minor flooding and flowing creek beds at the Las Vegas and San Pedro creeks in Goleta. Scroll down for a video of the storm impacts in the creeks.
Significant flooding was reported at Garden and Cota streets in downtown Santa Barbara, and there were some road closures in effect.
Authorities were bracing for more problems along Highway 101 below the Solimar burn area south of Carpinteria; the freeway was shut down for a time Tuesday by flooding.
Northbound lanes, near the burn area, were covered in mud Wednesday and authorities warned of lane closures and slow traffic in the area.
At midday, one lane was closed in each direction due to mud and water on the roadway.
Several traffic accidents, possibly weather-related, also were reported, including a single-vehicle rollover with injuries on northbound Highway 101 at Las Positas Road.
Check back with Noozhawk for updates to this story.
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— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
(Mike McGee / Noozhawk video)
