14-Year-Old Trapped for Hours in Destroyed Home Before Firefighters Pull Her from Rubble
California has had a rough time of it recently. The weather has not been a friend of the folks living there.
We have all watched the news as the wildfires have laid waste to parts of California.
Now, in the wake of the deaths, damage, and trauma of the fires, comes the first major storm of the year.
The worst of it is in Santa Barbara, where the storms and flooding have left at least eight people dead.
Twenty-five additional people have been injured and in total, 50 have been rescued.
The heavy rain was falling on areas that had been destroyed by the fires. Vegetation that would have prevented flooding and mudslides was no longer there.
Some reports say that even boulders have been moved by the mudslides.
Rivers of mud have been reported flooding into homes.
There was good news in Montecito, at least. In a house that was little more than a pile of rubble, rescue workers were able to pull a young woman, Lauren Cantin, 14, free.
By all reports, she had been trapped for hours. Firefighters were able to hear her yells through the pounding rain.
“I thought I was dead there for a minute,” she reportedly told firefighters.
In a time when so many lives are lost, I am sure this rescue has inspired firefighters and residents alike.
“To be able to have her come out safely and as unscathed as she was, it was pretty phenomenal,” Andy Rupp, a Montecito Fire Protection District firefighter, said.
Homes have been destroyed and wildlife displaced. Only the experts know how long it takes for an area or region to recover.
I cannot imagine how those living in the area are making it through.
While houses have been destroyed and some folks are still missing, it does the heart good to know that trained first responders are on the scene. They are in our prayers.
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