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Several large trees and multiple power lines along the 200 block of Haley St. came crashing down during yesterday's storm due to high winds. Photo by Victor Maccharoli.

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Wild weather takes toll on Haley Street

By COLBY FRAZIER — Jan. 22, 2010

Hulking trees were uprooted, cars were crunched, power lines snapped and chunks of sidewalk were overturned yesterday afternoon when a fierce gust of wind — possibly a tornado — unleashed its fury on the 200 block of W. Haley Street.

When the blustery winds relented, the block, bordered by Bath and De la Vina streets, looked like a hurricane-ravaged disaster area. Emergency crews arrived to find at least a half dozen trees lying on the ground, hunks of concrete clinging to ancient roots; flattened vehicles; arcing power lines and at least four downed power poles.  

It was a rare show of nature’s force in usually sunny Santa Barbara, which weathers an occasional torrential downpour, but is mostly unfamiliar tornado-like winds.

“It was the most impressive weather I’ve ever seen,” said Keith Imrie, who was inside his apartment at 227 W. Haley St. at around noon when the power went out and screams and crashing sounds came from the street. He said later, “It had to be a funnel cloud because it took out isolated things … It hopscotched right through here.”

Matt McGranahan, who lives in the same apartment building as Imrie and was also home when the storm hit, said the force of the wind bowed the windows and slammed his doors and cabinets.

“It just let loose for about five minutes,” he said.

Streets and sidewalks throughout the lower Westside were littered with debris from trees, but no single area was hit as hard as the 200 block of Haley Street.

Lt. Paul McCaffrey, a Santa Barbara Police spokesman, said arcing power lines fell near a vehicle occupied by a woman, and trees crashed to the ground nearby, but she was not injured. Remarkably, he said, no injuries were reported.

Homes in the area appeared to escape from the storm with little damage.

Despite the loss of several power lines and poles, a spokesman with Southern California Edison said only a dozen or so residents in the area were without power. The spokesman said crews were hoping to have power restored by yesterday evening, though Santa Barbara City fire officials said some residents could go without power for days.

While many felt the isolated nature of the damaging weather was a clear sign of a tornado, this couldn’t be confirmed.

According to Eric Bolt, a warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service, the spate of recent storms was caused by a combination of unstable air in the region and a jet stream that peeled off the ocean and had Southern California in its sights.

Bolt said tornadoes were reported throughout the area — a phenomena he didn’t doubt since the storm was accompanied by a cold, unstable air mass that had “a bit of a spin to them.”

While the worst of the storms appeared to have come and gone by yesterday evening, Bolt said thunderstorms and harsh winds could persist through today.

“The main area moved on through,” he said. But “we’re still plenty unstable. We’re still getting some showers [and] there could be a thundershower [today].”

Elsewhere in the city, the storm created a sinkhole near Modoc and Veronica Springs roads, and caused two or three sailboats to break from their moorings and wash ashore.

Through yesterday, about a dozen vessels had run aground along the South Coast, nine on Santa Barbara City beaches.

While the number seems large, Capt. Steve McCullough, of the Santa Barbara Harbor Patrol, said in the past, he’s seen 12 boats blow to shore in a single storm.

McCullough said boat owners are encouraged to move their boats into a sheltered harbor before storms, and those who don’t run the risk of having their vessels blown to shore. He said boat owners have until late next week to either junk their vessels or get them back in the water before the city begins taking steps to remove the boats.

The wet and windy weather also helped spur a number of vehicle accidents, including a single-vehicle rollover yesterday morning on Highway 101 near Los Carneros Road. Officials said the driver was uninjured.

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Be prepared : 1/22/2010

Look at the number of city employees and other workers cleaning up the mess in the rain. Most of this stuff could have been trimmed or cleaned in good weather, saving time and equipment. Same with new wipers and tires, not to mention following the law and turning on your headlights. It really pays to be prepared, i can't say that enough!

Boycott Boy

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can't prevent rare events : 1/23/2010

If you'll look - the limbs of the trees were trimmed for the power line. Five blocks away, everyone noticed that gust of wind because it involved upward suction of debris into the air. I think the fact that the damage was concentrated on this one block implies that it was a truly powerful blast of wind in one area.

Jill

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new wipers? : 1/23/2010

Please help me understand how new wipers or turning on your headlights would have prevented those HUGE tree's from falling on powerlines and on our vehicles? I assume you do not live on this block... I do... if this was your home you would have wanted twice as many workers cleaning up the huge tree blocking your street and driveway!
And on that note, I was home. I weather was WILD! Very cool and scary at same time. Great job by the city of Santa Barbara!

George

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lost my truck : 2/3/2010

Let me say, I am glad there were no serious injuries...
I am a manager for New House 2...227 west haley. My girlfriends truck was parked out front.
THE TREES....that we tried to remove in the past...well....one of them CRUSHED the truck.
SO now I have to pay to have the truck removed and salvaged.....
I wanted just a small "We are sorry for the truck".
NOW I want a new truck!!!!!!

Gary Lane

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