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CNN Live At Daybreak

Mudslide in Southern California

Aired December 26, 2003 - 06:32   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: We want to get an update now on the search for 10 campers missing in a mudslide in Southern California.
CNN's Miguel Marquez is on the phone from Santa Barbara County -- Miguel.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How are you there, Fredricka?

And the number may be higher than 10. We just spoke to Tracey Martinez of the Santa Barbara Fire Department, and she says between 10 and 20 people are missing. That's based on interviews with those who were at the campground and rescued. Twelve to 14 people were taken to the hospital here in Santa Bernardino and 52 people were rescued in a separate mud slide at a KOA campground in Devore, California, just west of where we are.

Now, rescuers had to stop about 1:30 in the morning because conditions, including the cold and the difficulty of slogging through this mud, it was just so difficult and dangerous to them. The debris field, in some cases, firefighters are saying and rescuers are saying, is as high as six feet, with logs and boulders and mud coming down from the recent fires here.

Three bridges in the Old Waterman Canyon area, on that road, have been washed out, possibly more. And there are six homes left up there from the fires. About 15 people are trapped in those homes, but firefighters say they've made contact with them and they seem to be doing fine. They just can't get out because of all the debris in that area.

The search is expected to continue at daybreak, which should probably be in about two or three hours -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Now, Miguel, you mentioned so many obstacles for the searchers. What about weather? What's expected today?

MARQUEZ: Weather, they may get a bit of a break today, it looks like. It rained very hard here yesterday. Today it looks like it's clearing. There may be some light showers higher up in the mountains, but do keep in mind that was one of the problems they had here yesterday. People said that they just came so quickly, they didn't realize it was snowing -- it was raining up higher and it wasn't raining where they were at the campground. And then this, just this massive wall of debris came through and just literally washed buildings away -- Fredricka. WHITFIELD: Miguel, let's talk about the fires, the wildfires back in October and November, and how the fires contributed to these mud slides that just seemed to go out of control with these heavy rains.

MARQUEZ: Yes, talking to rescuers here, they say that this particular camp had survived several floods in the past. But this fire has really complicated things. We're in the old Waterman area of Santa Barbara County. This is where the old fire started back in October, literally about ground zero. About 30 homes were lost in this canyon alone. There's about six left that are now trapped in there and the fire just left the ground completely loose and filled with ash and pieces of logs and burned out debris and boulders that are now all coming down as water and gravity just pull them toward the basin -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Miguel Marquez, thanks very much for that update on the phone.

Again, you're looking at the file pictures of the wildfires in Santa Barbara County last October and November. And that simply scorched and raped the land there so that when you had heavy rain overnight yesterday, it caused major mud slides, now leading to the search for at least 10 people, maybe even 12 people, according to Miguel.

We'll have another live report on the mud slides on CNN's AMERICAN MORNING, beginning at the top of the hour. So stay tuned for that.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired December 26, 2003 - 06:32   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: We want to get an update now on the search for 10 campers missing in a mudslide in Southern California.
CNN's Miguel Marquez is on the phone from Santa Barbara County -- Miguel.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How are you there, Fredricka?

And the number may be higher than 10. We just spoke to Tracey Martinez of the Santa Barbara Fire Department, and she says between 10 and 20 people are missing. That's based on interviews with those who were at the campground and rescued. Twelve to 14 people were taken to the hospital here in Santa Bernardino and 52 people were rescued in a separate mud slide at a KOA campground in Devore, California, just west of where we are.

Now, rescuers had to stop about 1:30 in the morning because conditions, including the cold and the difficulty of slogging through this mud, it was just so difficult and dangerous to them. The debris field, in some cases, firefighters are saying and rescuers are saying, is as high as six feet, with logs and boulders and mud coming down from the recent fires here.

Three bridges in the Old Waterman Canyon area, on that road, have been washed out, possibly more. And there are six homes left up there from the fires. About 15 people are trapped in those homes, but firefighters say they've made contact with them and they seem to be doing fine. They just can't get out because of all the debris in that area.

The search is expected to continue at daybreak, which should probably be in about two or three hours -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Now, Miguel, you mentioned so many obstacles for the searchers. What about weather? What's expected today?

MARQUEZ: Weather, they may get a bit of a break today, it looks like. It rained very hard here yesterday. Today it looks like it's clearing. There may be some light showers higher up in the mountains, but do keep in mind that was one of the problems they had here yesterday. People said that they just came so quickly, they didn't realize it was snowing -- it was raining up higher and it wasn't raining where they were at the campground. And then this, just this massive wall of debris came through and just literally washed buildings away -- Fredricka. WHITFIELD: Miguel, let's talk about the fires, the wildfires back in October and November, and how the fires contributed to these mud slides that just seemed to go out of control with these heavy rains.

MARQUEZ: Yes, talking to rescuers here, they say that this particular camp had survived several floods in the past. But this fire has really complicated things. We're in the old Waterman area of Santa Barbara County. This is where the old fire started back in October, literally about ground zero. About 30 homes were lost in this canyon alone. There's about six left that are now trapped in there and the fire just left the ground completely loose and filled with ash and pieces of logs and burned out debris and boulders that are now all coming down as water and gravity just pull them toward the basin -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Miguel Marquez, thanks very much for that update on the phone.

Again, you're looking at the file pictures of the wildfires in Santa Barbara County last October and November. And that simply scorched and raped the land there so that when you had heavy rain overnight yesterday, it caused major mud slides, now leading to the search for at least 10 people, maybe even 12 people, according to Miguel.

We'll have another live report on the mud slides on CNN's AMERICAN MORNING, beginning at the top of the hour. So stay tuned for that.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com