It’s a battle to save a Montecito neighborhood. While it made it through the big storm this week, skip loaders, dump trucks, and teams of workers with shovels are racing the clock to get ready for the next storm this weekend.
An overflowing creek damaged some of the homes this week, and residents say it’s threatening to do it again. The fight is taking place on Chelham Way, in a canyon just below Westmont College.
What’s normally a tiny creek runs between Jeff Bailey’s house, and his garage. There’s a small foot bridge connecting them. The creek then goes into a small culvert under Chelham Way. But, the beautiful, tree covered creek turned into a monster Monday, as the most powerful storm since 2005 hit the region.
"We've had a lot of issues with this culvert before," said Bailey. It's about three feet across, and becomes clogged with debris during storms. That in turn can fill the creek, creating a lake over the roadway, and threatening nearby homes.
He said when water and debris poured down the hill Monday, the culvert clogged, and by the time firefighters reached the scene, it was too deep to try to unclog it.
Bailey is a Santa Barbara teacher, and his wife works for a non-profit. They sank everything they had into what is their dream house. So, he evacuated his family, but stayed to fight for his home.
"I stayed here over the night to try to save my house." He used a picnic table turned on its side, and surrounded by sandbags to try to keep the water out of his house. He said it came within three inches of the home, which is slightly raised above the ground.
Nina Harding lives across the street. Harding, her husband, and some other people removed furniture from the house next door, which was close to the path of the floodwaters.
"We ripped out the fence to keep the water flowing over the road...otherwise the house would flood," said Harding. "Then, we moved the furniture to our house....it was gnarly."
But, the concern is now focused on this weekend’s storm
While Jeff Bailey’s home barely made it through the torrent, his garage was heavily damaged, and his yard destroyed. But, he isn’t dwelling on that. He’s in the creek with a shovel, along with Santa Barbara County workers, trying to get it clear to handle this weekend’s storm.
"I saved a good part of the house...now, we're trying to clear out the culvert," said Bailey. But, what he said is really needed is a bridge.
It’s a race against nature. And, this Montecito neighborhood is using every minute to try to make sure they are as ready as possible for the next wave of rain.
