SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today issued a proclamation declaring January 22, 2018 as a “Day of Remembrance of the Montecito Mudslides” and ordered that flags be flown at half-staff over the State Capitol.
The image and text of the proclamation are below:
The text of the proclamation is below:
Early in the morning of January 9, 2018, after a storm that dropped half an inch of rain in five minutes on a landscape recently scorched by the Thomas Fire, torrents of muddy water came rushing down the hillsides, rapidly inundating streets and houses in the town of Montecito. For those who remained in its path, there was no escaping the relentless, engulfing force of the mud. The Montecito Mudslides were the deadliest flooding event in California in recent memory. At least 21 lives were lost.
The youngest of the victims was three years old. The eldest was celebrating his 89th birthday in his home when he died. Two families each lost three of their members. A father and daughter and a husband and wife died together. The victims included a teacher, a scoutmaster, a surgeon, a former ballerina, a veteran of the Korean War and a Fulbright scholar. At least one died while trying to save a loved one from the flood. These tragedies are more than any family or community should have to bear.
On this Day of Remembrance, I have ordered that flags be flown at half-staff over the State Capitol. As we remember those we lost in this disaster, we should also remember the injured, the missing and the survivors who may need our help in rebuilding their lives and spirits.
NOW THEREFORE I, EDMUND G. BROWN JR., Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim January 22, 2018, as a “Day of Remembrance of the Montecito Mudslides” in the State of California.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 22nd day of January 2018.
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EDMUND G. BROWN JR.
Governor of California
ATTEST:
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ALEX PADILLA
Secretary of State