Harper Halbadier '26
Exactly five years ago, a torrential downpour fell over Santa Barbara county, resulting in a devastating debris flow that left the Montecito community in unfathomable ruins. On January 9th, 2018, 23 lives were lost in the Montecito mudslides. Anxiety around rain in Santa Barbara is very prevalent – even five years later. The tight-knit community is still mourning the loss of these lives and the loss of a sense of brightness and hope among citizens.
Santa Barbara County’s Flood Control District reported 12 inches of rain fell on January 9th, 2023, and 4 days later, on January 13, 2023, another three inches came down. When the rain picked up, officials ordered the entire community of Montecito to evacuate. These evacuations may seem insignificant, but evacuations are something that local students, faculty, and staff are very familiar with, given Santa Barbara and Carpinteria’s history with the Thomas fire and the rain that caused the mudslides 5 years ago. This being said, evacuating evoked many emotions and memories of these tragic natural disasters that many Carpinteria, Montecito, and Santa Barbara residents lived through.
As all of Cate’s community remembered these tragic events and were there for those members of the Cate family who had been directly impacted by the mudslides, history seemed to begin to repeat itself. The heavy rains that have fallen over Santa Barbara and Carpinteria in the past couple of weeks have had major impacts on Cate’s students, faculty, staff, and fellow neighbors. Day students were required to stay on campus Monday, January 9th, creating a somewhat chaotic environment in the common rooms, but also serving as an opportunity for day and boarding students to spend time together. Freshman Oliva Almqvist said she “thought it was great for the day students to be able to take part in activities that usually only boarders do and gain the perspective of what it’s like to live in the dorm.” She also mentioned that “it was really fun to be around them at night and I felt like it brought us closer. It also kind of felt like a middle school sleepover, where we could show them how to do things in the dorm; as if the roles were reversed and we were the day students, having them stay over at our house for the first time.”
It was comforting to have daily updates and see that flooding was kept under control and monitored by county officials, and although this was out of the ordinary and somewhat hectic, everyone was very thankful to be safe and sound up on the Mesa together.
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