John Wiley
By John Wiley
We flew over the horrific new local flood plain(s) Tuesday and got some update pix. This debris basin that was totally full of boulders is now nearly empty again, thanks to the heroic digging and earth moving work. On the way to SBA we snapped this ongoing project at the SBHS stadium. We wondered if the flood work has taken over all the available local equipment and workers for earth moving and slowed the SBHS work. Flood damage repair and rain preparation is certainly top priority, so maybe all other projects are paused?
CalFire took most of the equipment for rent between January 10 and January 22. They paid 2 1/2 times the normal daily rental rates. Now comes the clean-up of private property. There’s an estimated 1- 2 million tons of mud to move. That’s tens of thousands of truckloads of contaminated mud. That mud contains human waste and highly toxic chemicals. it’s all over everything in Montecito. Coast Village Road is enveloped in a swirling cloud of dust from the dried mud being dropped and tracked by the mud trucks.