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Anxious family members awaited word on loved ones Wednesday as rescue crews searched grimy debris and ruins for more than a dozen people missing after mudslides in Southern California destroyed an estimated 100 houses, swept cars to the beach and left at least 17 victims dead. The drenching storm that triggered the disaster gave way to sunny skies, as hundreds of searchers carefully combed a messy landscape strewn with hazards. The mud is acting like a candy shell on ice cream. It's crusty on top but soft underneath. (AP Photo)
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A dozen people were hospitalized at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital and four were in critical condition, Dr. Brett Wilson said. (AP Photo)
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The deluge destroyed 100 houses and damaged 300 others, Santa Barbara County authorities said. (AP Photo)
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In this photo provided by the Santa Barbara County Fire Department shows the cleanup of mud and debris in front of the Coral Casino and Biltmore Hotel along Channel Drive in Montecito. (Source: Mike Eliason/Santa Barbara County Fire Department via AP)
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Eight commercial properties were destroyed and 20 damaged. (AP Photo)
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Some 500 firefighters and other rescue workers were searching debris spread across a wide swath of Montecito, a wealthy enclave of about 9,000 people northwest of Los Angeles that is home to such celebrities as Oprah Winfrey, Rob Lowe and Ellen DeGeneres. (AP Photo)
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Helicopters were used to hoist more than 50 people to safety from roofs, where they scrambled to escape the mud or because debris had blocked roads and left them stranded. (AP Photo)
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At one point, a Coast Guard helicopter rescued a family of five and their two dogs. (Image: Reuters)
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The Montecito Inn sits in flooded waters and debris after a mudslide in Montecito, California. (Image: Reuters)
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Emergency personnel prepare to rescue a trapped woman inside a collapsed house in Montecito, California.(Image: Reuters)
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Emergency personnel carry a woman rescued from a collapsed house after a mudslide in Montecito, California. (Image: Reuters)
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A kitchen in a home on Glen Oaks Road damaged by mudslides in Montecito, California.(Image: Reuters)
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Cottages are surrounded by several feet of mud and debris after mudslides in Montecito, California.(Image: Reuters)
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Family members inspect the inside of a home covered in mud following the mudslides in Montecito. (Image: Reuters)
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Along Hot Springs Road, where at least two homes were carried off their foundations, bulldozers cleared muck and debris from areas already searched. (Image: Reuters)
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Utility crews began the laborious task of repairing downed power lines and snapped telephone poles. (Image: Reuters)
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A car sits tangled in debris after being destroyed by mudslides in Montecito, California. (Image: Reuters)
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Only an estimated 10 to 15 percent of residents fled when ordered and much of the damage occurred where evacuations were voluntary. (Image: Reuters)
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Another storm-related death was reported in Northern California, where a man was killed when his car was apparently struck by falling rocks in a landslide Tuesday evening in Napa County. (Image: Reuters)
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Another storm-related death was reported in Northern California, where a man was killed when his car was apparently struck by falling rocks in a landslide Tuesday evening in Napa County. (Image: Reuters)
