LOS ANGELES -- At least 17 people have been killed in the southern California mudslides caused by a winter storm which destroyed at least 100 homes, local authorities said Wednesday.
Three people were rescued Wednesday, but they also discovered two more bodies, raising the death count to 17, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said.
Authorities have not confirmed the names of the dead. Children were among the victims, said County Fire Spokesman Mike Eliason.
Hundreds of firefighters and others were still hunting through the mud and wreckage. Authorities said about 75 percent of the devastated area had been searched.
Dozens of people had been rescued and another 13 were missing in the county, officials said. The US Coast Guard said it used helicopters Tuesday to rescue people from rooftops.
Strong winter storm on Monday hammered southern California on the US West Coast with heavy downpours, triggering deadly mudflows before dawn on Tuesday.
TV footage from local media showed that in the Montecito area in the county, northwest of Los Angeles, the mudslides toppled trees and swept cars away. Multiple houses in the affected areas were torn from their foundations. (Xinhua)
