Last week's deadly mudslides in Montecito, California, have
shut down the Four Seasons Biltmore in Santa Barbara and the San Ysidro Ranch
and Montecito Inn in Montecito. The primary road linking Santa Barbara to Los
Angeles is also closed.
The combination of last month's massive Thomas Fire and
ensuing storms caused extensive mudslides and flooding, which as of Tuesday
resulted in the deaths of at least 20 people.
"As a result of recent flooding and mudslides, the resort
will be closed until further notice," the Four Seasons said on its
website.
Nearby, the Montecito Inn is also closed indefinitely. The
San Ysidro Ranch had already been shut down for "extensive cleaning"
necessitated by the Thomas Fire prior to the storms and slides. According to
local reports, much of that resort was destroyed last week from flooding and
mudslides, though the resort didn't update its status on its website, and its
phone line was busy on Tuesday.
The mudslides have closed an approximately 15-mile stretch
of Highway 101 between Santa Barbara's South Milpas Street on the west to the
Ventura County line to the east, according to the California Department of
Transportation.
Montecito is a community of about 9,000 people located on
the eastern flank of Santa Barbara.
The slides were triggered when storms hit a coastal hillside
area where much of the land had been charred by the Thomas Fire, California's
largest-ever wildfire. That fire burned more than 280,000 acres and destroyed
more than 1,000 structures.