Highway 101 has been completely closed by flooding in the Montecito area Tuesday morning by the big storm hitting the Central and South Coasts, with authorities having to rescue some people trapped in their vehicles.
The flooding happened during the 5 a.m. hour. The southbound 101 is closed at Milpas Street in Santa Barbara, and northbound the closure starts at Highway 126 in Ventura. Thousands of vehicles on the 101 were diverted, and turned around in the Rincon area.
Meanwhile, officials say they have had to rescue some people in the Montecito area who ignored mandatory evacuation orders yesterday, and became trapped by mudflows.
The storm hitting the region is moving slower than predicted. The low pressure area powering the storm is about 250 miles off of Point Conception. Forecasters say we could still see two to four inches of rain on the coast, and up to seven inches in the mountains before the storm clears the area.
Officials are concerned about more flooding in areas hit by recent brush fires
