At a town hall meeting Monday night, UCSB Professor Edward Keller urged Montecito residents to leave if strong rains are forecast this winter.
Keller has been studying mudflows for years. He said larger ones have happened over time; and some were neven bigger than the mudflow that happened January 9th.
The professor also said that residents should evacuate if they are in a danger zone and receive a warning from authorities.
Other speakers were Tom Fayram from the Santa Barbara County Public Works Department, and Natasha Lomas from State Fish and Wildlife.
Fayram said that sediment removal is very costly, and Lomas said that wildlife could be harmed by efforts to install wire fencing to trap debris.
