Mudslide Losses Top $421 Million in Hard-Hit Montecito
Twenty-one people were killed in the mudslides and two remain missing.
By Christopher Weber ••
More than $421 million in claims have been filed since deadly mudslides tore through the coastal community of Montecito during extremely heavy January rains, California's insurance commissioner said Monday.
Insurers have received more than 2,000 claims for residential and commercial losses, commissioner Dave Jones announced. Those include $388 million for residential personal property, $27.2 million for commercial property and $6.7 million for auto and other lines of insurance.
Montecito mudslide victims Roy Rohter, Josie Gower and Rebecca Riskin are pictured.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office
Faviola Benitez Calderon, 28, was found on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018, in the 100 block of Santo Tomas Lane near Olive Mill Road and above Coast Village Road. Calderon's 10-year-old son, Jonathan Benitez and his cousin 3-year-old Kailly Benitez, as well as Kailly’s mother, 27-year-old Marilyn Ramos, were also killed.
Fabian Ramz
The body of Pinit Sutthithepa was found Saturday and identified Sunday, Jan. 14 as the 20th victim of the Montecito Mudslides. Sutthithepa immigrated from Thailand, for years sending back money to his wife and two young children until he could bring them to the United States.
The Loring Taylor Family
Richard "Loring" Taylor, 79, and grandson Peerawat "Pasta" Sutthithepa, 6, were killed in the Montecito mudflow. Peerawat's father, Pinit Sutthithepa, also was killed.
Saint Augustine Academy
Roy Rohter, of Montecito, was identified as one of the victims of the Tuesday Jan. 9, 2018 winter storm. Rohter was the founder of a Catholic school in Ventura. He and his wife, Theresa, were swept away by the flood. He did not survive, his wife was rescued.
Family Photo
Alice Mitchell, pictured second from right, stayed home to celebrate her husband's 89th birthday on the night of the storm, the couple's daughter said. The house on Hot Springs Road was washed away by raging floods. Mitchell's body was found down the road, on a different street.
Family Photo
James Mitchell and his wife, Alice, chose not to evacuate their Montecito home when voluntary evacuations were issued. When a relative searching for the couple went to the sheriff's office for information, "they told her there was no 319 Hot Springs Road anymore," their daughter said. The couple's bodies were found Tuesday on Olive Mill Road.
Family Photo
Hayden Gower frantically searched through debris looking for his 69-year-old mother. By nightfall Wednesday, he learned her body had been found. "I told her to stay on the second floor but she went downstairs and opened the door and just got swept away," Hayden Gower told NBC affiliate KSBY.
Riskin Partners
Rebecca Riskin, a real estate agent and founder of Riskin Partners, was also killed in the mudslides in Montecito, the company confirmed. Riskin Partners described its founder as "an exceptional woman" who lived her life with "strength, grace and elegance." Riskin is survived by her husband and two children.
Family Photo
Peter Fleurat, 73, of Montecito. A long-time friend told KSBY-TV that Fleurat died after he and his partner tried to escape the rising floodwaters in their Montecito home.
Family Photo
Sawyer Corey, 12, was killed in the mud flow triggered by a storm in Montecito.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office
The body of Morgan Christine Corey, 25, was found in mud and debris in Montecito, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said.
Recently burned by California's largest recorded wildfire, the hillsides of Montecito northwest of Los Angeles could not absorb the rainstorm with an epic downpour of nearly an inch (2.5 centimeters) in 15 minutes early on Jan. 9.
"Once the rains hit, the water runs down, begins to take mud with it, and before you know it you have a 30 or 35-foot high wall of mud demolishing Montecito," Jones said.
Twenty-one people were killed and two remain missing.
AP
This combination of photos shows debris and mud covering the entrance of the Montecito Inn, top, after heavy rain brought flash flooding in Montecito, Calif., on Jan. 9, 2018, and a similar view after clean up on Monday, Jan. 22, bottom. (AP Photo/Daniel Dreifuss)
AP
This combination of photos shows debris and mud covering the entrance of the Montecito Inn, top, after heavy rain brought flash flooding in Montecito, Calif., on Jan. 9, 2018, and a similar view after clean up on Monday, Jan. 22, bottom. (AP Photo/Daniel Dreifuss)
AP
This combination of photos shows a mud-covered sign, top, near the closed U.S. Highway 101 after heavy rain brought flash flooding in Montecito, Calif., on Jan. 13, 2018, and clean up of the area from a similar view on Monday, Jan. 22, bottom. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, Daniel Dreifuss)
AP
This combination of photos shows a bulldozer moving debris, top, as a vehicle sits stranded in flooded water on U.S. Highway 101 after heavy rain brought flash flooding in Montecito, Calif., on Jan. 10, 2018, and cars driving on the highway after clean up from a similar view on Monday, Jan. 22, bottom. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, Daniel Dreifuss)
AP
This combination of photos shows U.S. Highway 101, top, in the aftermath of a mudslide in Montecito, Calif., on Jan. 13, 2018, and cars driving on the highway after clean up from a similar view on Monday, Jan. 22, bottom. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, Daniel Dreifuss)
AP
This combination of photos shows debris and mud covering the street in front of local area shops, top, after heavy rain brought flash flooding in Montecito, Calif., on Jan. 9, 2018, and a similar view after clean up on Monday, Jan. 22, bottom. (AP Photo/Daniel Dreifuss)
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The mudslide insurance claims come on top of California wildfire claims that topped $12 billion in 2017, making it the most expensive series of fires in state history, Jones said.
That exceeds the total insurance claims from the top 10 previously most costly wildfires in California. Most of last year's claims were connected to Southern California's fires in December and October's devastating blazes in wine country north of San Francisco.
Jones said he fears the staggering number of insurance claims represent a "new normal" for California.
"It used to be we could talk about a wildfire season. Now that's simply not the case. Wildfires are year-round, and Californians need to protect themselves accordingly," he warned.
In Montecito, 1,415 residences were damaged and 107 were destroyed, in some cases swept completely off their foundations, Jones said. Five commercial properties were demolished and 235 others suffered damage when torrents of water flowed down hills carrying mud, boulders and debris.
Jones recalled the experience of touring the devastation zone as "extraordinarily chilling."
The commissioner predicted that the $421 million total will climb as additional claims are made and existing ones are adjusted.
Few residents in Montecito, with 3,200 households, had flood or mudslide insurance prior to the destruction. But the Department of Insurance has instructed insurers to honor claims if they had fire coverage, Jones said.
Mike Eliason, Santa Barbara County Fire Department
A Santa Barbara County firefighter checks a drainage culvert Thursday Jan. 18, 2018 on Buena Vista Creek near Park Lane in Montecito.
Mike Eliason, Santa Barbara County Fire Department
Firefighters inspect a bridge Jan. 16, 2018 at a creek blocked with debris from the January mudflow in Montecito.
Mike Eliason, Santa Barbara County Fire Department
Boulders were scattered throughout the town following the Jan. 9, 2018 mudflow in Montecito. Workers break up a boulder Jan. 14, 2018.
Mike Eliason, Santa Barbara County Fire Department
Capt. John Pepper, of the Fresno Fire Department, searches a property off East Valley Road Jan. 13, 2018 in Montecito.
Toni Guinyard, NBC4
A stuffed toy is found on Olive Mill Road in the debris of the Montecito mudflow Friday Jan. 12, 2018.
Getty Images
Workers clear mud from the parking garage at the Montecito Inn following a mudslide on January 12, 2018 in Montecito, California.
Getty Images
An urban search and rescue team member walks by a home that was destroyed by a mudslide on January 11, 2018 in Montecito, California.
Toni Guinyard, NBC4
A look at the damage and debris of the Montecito mudflow Friday Jan. 12, 2018.
Toni Guinyard, NBC4
A law enforcement vehicle is seen on Olive Mill Road Friday Jan. 12, 2018 in Montecito.
Mike Eliason, Santa Barbara County Fire Department
Mud flowed into the chapel at Montecito's La Casa De Maria. This photo was taken Thursday Jan. 11, 2018.
Mike Eliason, Santa Barbara County Fire Department
A fire truck passes a home surrounded by mud Thursday Jan. 11, 2018 in Montecito.
Mike Eliason, Santa Barbara County Fire Department
Search teams work through debris Thursday Jan. 11, 2018 in Montecito.
Toni Guinyard/KNBC-TV
Two SUVs are swamped by mud Wednesday Jan. 11, 2018 in Montecito.
Toni Guinyard/KNBC-TV
A house is surrounded by mud and toppled trees Thursday Jan. 11, 2018 in Montecito.
Toni Guinyard/KNBC-TV
Front-end loaders remove mud from a street Thursday Jan. 11, 2018 in Montecito.
Toni Guinyard/KNBC-TV
Trees and other debris are scattered in the streets Thursday Jan. 11, 2018 in Montecito.
Toni Guinyard/KNBC-TV
A bicycle was among the items left behind in the mud Thursday Jan. 11, 2018 in Montecito.
Toni Guinyard/KNBC-TV
Mud lines a street Thursday Jan. 11, 2018 in Montecito.
KNBC-TV
A view from above the mudslide zone in Montecito Wednesday Jan. 10, 2018.
Toni Guinyard/KNBC-TV
A view of the mudslide zone in Montecito Wednesday Jan. 10, 2018.
Toni Guinyard
A view of the mudslide zone in Montecito Wednesday Jan. 10, 2018.
Toni Guinyard/KNBC-TV
A view of the mudslide zone in Montecito Wednesday Jan. 10, 2018.
Toni Guinyard
A view of the mudslide zone in Montecito Wednesday Jan. 10, 2018.
A view of the mudslide zone in Montecito Wednesday Jan. 10, 2018.
KNBC-TV
A view of the mudslide zone in Montecito Wednesday Jan. 10, 2018.
Toni Guinyard/KNBC-TV
A view of the mudslide zone in Montecito Wednesday Jan. 10, 2018.
KNBC-TV
A view of the mudslide zone in Montecito Wednesday Jan. 10, 2018.
Toni Guinyard/KNBC-TV
A view of the mudslide zone in Montecito Wednesday Jan. 10, 2018.
Toni Guinyard/KNBC-TV
A view of the mudslide zone in Montecito Wednesday Jan. 10, 2018.
Toni Guinyard/KNBC-TV
A view of the mudslide zone in Montecito Wednesday Jan. 10, 2018.
Toni Guinyard
A view of the mudslide zone in Montecito Wednesday Jan. 10, 2018.
Toni Guinyard/KNBC-TV
A view of the mudslide zone in Montecito Wednesday Jan. 10, 2018.
Toni Guinyard/KNBC-TV
A view of the mudslide zone in Montecito Wednesday Jan. 10, 2018.
NBC Connecticut
A view from above the mudslide zone in Montecito Wednesday Jan. 10, 2018.
A view from above the mudslide zone in Montecito Wednesday Jan. 10, 2018.
That's because the debris flow's "proximate cause" was the enormous Thomas fire that scorched a huge swath of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties starting in December and loosened hillsides that became vulnerable to mudslides weeks later.
Jones said insurers have enough reserves to pay the massive claims. But he said the fires and subsequent debris flows may prompt them to re-evaluate the fire risk and raise premiums, especially for California homes in high-risk areas.
