This Is What Parts Of California Look Like After A Huge Mudslide

At least 15 people have died, with emergency services warning that a number of people are missing and that they expect the death toll may rise.

The mudslide started shortly after 4 a.m. on Tuesday after torrential rain indundated the state, which is only just recovering from the wildfires of last month. Emergency officials said that they responded to more than 600 calls in the space of three hours, as people woke to the deluge coming through their front doors.

Many drivers had to abandon their vehicles after they were stuck. Northbound highway 101 was shut, hampering attempts to get emergency responders into the worst-affected areas.

Although officials ordered an estimated 30,000 people to evacuate, many stayed, saying they were frustrated by official evacuation efforts during December's wildfires.

The hardest-hit homes, officials said, were those not in the evacuation zone. The worst damage was in the community of Montecito, Santa Barbara County Fire Department spokesman Mike Eliason said, where some homes were knocked off their foundations by the strength of the mudslide.