Residential and commercial areas below hillsides charred by the Thomas fire are facing a new threat of potentially “catastrophic” flooding, if not from the first mild storm of 2018 that rolled in Wednesday then from future storms that could be more potent, according to reports from county officials.
Any floodwaters that flow before fire cleanup is completed could also contain a “toxic soup” of hazardous wastes picked up by runoff through damaged and destroyed structures within the burned areas, officials said Wednesday.
In an effort to prevent pollution from and exposure to household hazardous wastes, the county Board of Supervisors, meeting in Santa Barbara, unanimously reratified the declaration of a local health emergency initially approved Dec. 21, and the board plans to do it again at its Jan. 9 meeting.