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Mudslide Fears Linger After Devastating Fire Nearly eight months after the Bond Fire in Orange County, Calif., residents say they fear deadly mudslides are on the horizon, despite the state-wide drought. The Bond Fire, which erupted in Silverado Canyon Dec. 2, 2020, burnt away vegetation that previously played a crucial part in capturing and storing rainfall. Without it, rain can fall into the canyon without obstruction, creating a mudslide hazard. Catastrophic mudslides aren’t unprecedented in Southern California. In January 2018, 23 people died after debris flows as high as 15 feet moved through Montecito, Calif. at speeds of up to 20 miles per hour. Two of the bodies were never found. The community was previously affected by the Thomas Fire, which burned 281,893 acres earlier that month. ....
Williams Canyon Fire Victims Brace for Mudslides, Prepare to Evacuate in Orange County Residents of Williams Canyon are preparing to evacuate their community as potential mudslides caused by fierce rains threaten to destroy their homes and livestock in rural Orange County, California. At noon on Jan. 28, Orange County Sheriff’s Department deputies drove through the canyon, urging residents to leave the area and blasting warnings of a “voluntary evacuation” over loudspeakers. “We cannot wait until after the rain comes to get horses out or to get people out. We’ve got to get out now,” Susan Iwamoto, 56, told The Epoch Times. “We’re just trying to salvage what we can.” ....
Williams Canyon Fire Victims Make Impassioned Plea for Help With mudslide season approaching, fire victim Susan Iwamoto is making an urgent plea to the County of Orange as well as California state and federal authorities to help struggling residents in what she calls “the lost canyon.” Iwamoto, 56, and her husband, Wayne, 69, have been living in their ash-and-soot-filled home in Williams Canyon since the Bond Fire hit in early December. They have no other options. Short-term rentals are in short supply, and Red Cross housing vouchers have been taken by those in need amid the pandemic. “We need help. We need resources,” Iwamoto told The Epoch Times. ....