More 2/2 Flood Aerials

[SBitz]

Here are more aerial views taken 2/2 of the Montecito flood causes, damage and cleanup.

[SBitz]

I'll probably post more pix as I go thru them, if this post gets very many views. For starters, here's a larger version of the pic I sent to Edhat showing the progress at San Ysidro Ranch. I've pumped the image a fair bit to better distinguish mud and burn from the unaffected areas.


In a longer zoom shot we got this closer view (cropped and down-sized) of the Stonehouse Restaurant area, showing how high the mud got on the white wooden wall (with orange "X") facing us just right of center (upper building with two dormers on the roof) from this angle.

[SBitz]

One of the main causes for the damaging flood was all the massive boulders in the debris flow. In a way maybe we're lucky the deluge on these barren burnt mountains was relatively brief. Check out all the boulders still in the countless ravines that feed into the creeks that form Montecito Creek.

In this long view you can trace the creek along the line of bare trees going up from the bottom-left. The ravines running up the mountain feed the creeks that join near the burnt base of the mountains.

This closer view up San Ysidro Creek gives a clearer view of the boulders similarly collected in the ravines there. Many more have already been cleared from the wider creek channel below.

Here's a closer look at some of the remaining boulders in the upper creek.

[Section Make8R]

On Sunday, February 4, 2018 at 12:50:14 AM UTC-8, SBitz wrote:

Here are more aerial views taken 2/2 of the Montecito flood causes, damage and cleanup.

 Thanx  again for some great pictures.  (testing post to add images from cheezy flip phone, this is an edited post to add some mixed pictures)

  Ive been out and out about surveying some of the damaged canyons.  On the ground, the devastation is hard to fathom. I went up to as many places as I am allowed to, and hiked a bit through the lower woods near Oprahs place.  Her property and homes and wooded area to the west of San Ysidro recieved feet of mud, all the way down to the freeway,   The entry point for the debris flows, up at Mt Drive at various places,  looks now just like  regular sized Sierra Nevada canyon mouths, ie hundreds of feet wide, carved 20 ft deep below old course,and mud marks 50ft up the canyon walls. Very similar to snow avalanche areas.  In looking at some of them, you can actually see now where the old flood plain areas used to be.  (this has happened before, and is no doubt going to be reviewed etc as properties are condemned, and people want to rebuild or purchase land etc)

Nothing could have stopped these debris flows, and as they went straight down, (in general) the mud agent carrying the boulders sloshed out and laterally to the sides, huge huge huge volumes of it.  The little neighborhood just west of me  (santa rosa land) took immense amounts, and many houses there will be condemned. I think the drainage basin uphill a 1/2 mile filled quickly and the excess just pushed and flowed away to the sides, as some of it ran down to the Biltmore.

San Ysidro creek seemed to have dumped the most boulders, the Randall road area is hard to believe. Just horrific.

  Our friends house at the top of San Ysidro faired well, I will post some pictures someday, when they are shared with me. Their caretaker witnessed the fire and flow from a "safe" vantage point, so I will share his story when I hear it!! 

The only good to come of this disaster, is that it seems to have come during a dry year, and even though its a real disaster, I keep thinking how much worse it could have been, if we had little rains, and the warnings, and then little rains, and the warnings....and nothing really happened, and then later...perhaps even next year...or the following year, we had real heavy rains, not just 3 or 5 inches, but 10 or 15 in the mountains......folks would have been tired of the warnings by then, and no one would have left.  Hundreds more would have died......and the size of the flows would have just been exponentially larger.   

It does appear that the creeks and canyons are nothing BUT boulders now, no soil, no ash, no plants, just rocks gravels and sand.  I "think/feel" these will stay put, and actually trap debris, if/when the next rains are slower and more moderate.  If we get a pod of rain like the one which hit Jan 9th though, all bets are off.

ps good weekend of volunteers working at Casa De Maria to help clean out the mud.  Very very slow work.

1st pic, Olive Mill Hot Springs intersection, right in front of casa dorinda entrance  (where it used to be) looking west across Montecito Creek.  It had backed up here, filled the small debris basin, and flowed both down Olive Mill to the sea, but also through the woods, and ruined all the homes in the San Thomas road area.    Block wall to right is about 4 ft tall, small building in distance is a garage I think, about 4-5 hundred feet away?    Most of the heavy boulders seemed to have stopped in this area, but the vast amounts of mud just continued down.

2nd pic, Romero Canyon trailhead, looking due north.   It really reminding me of a 10,000 ft elevation Sierra Nevada stream bed, which I love, being a rockhound, but in this case, it really looks like avalanche damage.  Just from side to side, up about 30ft to the sides or so, just scraped clean, and then replace with a mix of large boulders, big expanses of flat gravels and sand etc. Its wide open and bright and hot as well.....just weird, as it used to be cool and shady.

 All the trees and vegetation are gone, and you can actually see that this is where the original contours of the canyon are.  Over time, the Riparian creeks/canyons fill with so much trees and vegetation, and just general debris... so you cant see that they are actually supposed to be this wide!!!  

  Law enforcement officers are out in full force, I was ID'd twice,  (sunday the 4th) so I recommend not driving around.   These canyons will come back, so when the bridges are repaired and mandatory exclusion zones lifted, the power of nature is pretty unbelievable and a drive around Mt Drive is worth it.  And sad, and scary.....however...things are already growing....the water from the mts tasted ok and  I saw seedlings already...(Yay...weeds..who cares!!!)

[SBitz]

testing post to add images from cheezy flip phone

They work great on both my email feed from SBitZ and here in the web interface.  For some reason they're much better when I enlarge them by clicking (or control-click in some apps), so I'm mentioning that in case it helps anyone else.
 

On the ground, the devastation is hard to fathom.

So many familiar and formerly beautiful places you've hiked.  I guess emotional somewhat like visiting dear friends in the hospital? 

 

Oprahs ... and homes and wooded area to the west of San Ysidro recieved feet of mud, all the way down to the freeway

Yes! We noticed that in our pix, but it's impossible to tell how deep the mud was except for where it caused serious damage or left marks on white walls.  So thanks for the first hand report.
 

 looks now just like  regular sized Sierra Nevada canyon mouths

I've thought about creating 3D pix from our aerials, but it's a bit of work and few people would be able to view them.  So again, it's helpful having your on-scene report.

this has happened before

Yes!! I've been noticing boulders around town in a whole new way since the event! I've thought several times about that 2-story boulder in the middle of the creek at the Botanic Garden. Yikes!

Looking at aerials, topo maps and sat views it's now more obvious how our terrain has been shaped by countless massive floods in the past. Even tho I knew better, it's been too easy imagining a slow inexorable process of silt deposition.  Now I also visualize geologically "instant" events like this, more akin to our earthquakes.  This land we love has not always been shaped gently as our bucolic weather lulls us to expect, eh?

San Ysidro creek seemed to have dumped the most boulders, the Randall road area is hard to believe. Just horrific.

From the air, several creeks basically created vast alluvial fans of debris and mud without much regard for the people and structures there. It didn't seem to take more than a foot or two of mud to cause serious damage. Places where it was higher or contained boulders got it the worst.
 

caretaker witnessed the fire and flow from a "safe" vantage point, so I will share his story when I hear it!! 

Must have been so harrowing! Glad he's safe.
 

keep thinking how much worse it could have been, if we had little rains, and the warnings, and then little rains

So easy to become complacent. At least this generation will remember where all the boulders around town came from, and maybe change zoning to move people and structures away from danger.
 

good weekend of volunteers working at Casa De Maria to help clean out the mud.

Glad the community is supporting the recovery of that local treasure.

Riparian creeks/canyons fill with so much trees and vegetation, and just general debris... so you cant see

I noticed that in comparing an old aerial pic of Casa, and will post that old one in the Casa topic here. So many trees, you wouldn't know it's a wide flood plain unless you notice all the big boulders among the trees.

Law enforcement officers are out in full force

Glad they're still on guard, since so many homes and neighborhoods are still vulnerable.

I recommend not driving around.

I appreciate it when those who do, share pix and stories as you have. Helps me resist the urge to go for a look around, adding to the traffic and distraction for everyone working on the recovery. Big motivation for our aerial pic posts too, since they can add some context and occasionally detail to the on-scene info.

water from the mts tasted ok and  I saw seedlings already...(Yay...weeds..who cares!!!)

Hope the water was safe (how are you feeling today?). It's amazing to me how quickly life recovers. We lived in the region of Mt. St. Helens when it blew, and had expected it to be a moonscape for generations. Even from the air that destruction was soon remarkably hidden. Hope springs eternal, eh?