LOS ANGELES—Key roadways remained closed and officials estimated thousand of homes were seriously damaged in California as weeks of wild weather that flooded roadways, collapsed hillsides, and toppled countless trees finally became calm Jan. 17.
Tallying the damage will take time, but the number of houses and other structures that will be red-tagged as uninhabitable could be in the “low thousands,” said Brian Ferguson, spokesperson for the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.
The damage is spread across 41 of California’s 58 counties, Ferguson said.
Arborists cut up a tree that was taken down by high winds in San Rafael, Calif., on Jan. 10, 2023. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
In unincorporated Santa Barbara County, after more than 60 inspections at properties that sustained damage from mudslides and downed trees, four homes were red-tagged and 32 were yellow-tagged as needing extensive repairs, said Kelsey Buttitta, the county’s communications manager….