17 people have died in severe mudslides in Southern California and rescue crews are still searching for at least 8 more people. The mudslides came after the region's worst wildfires in recorded history, and like many processes on our planet, the two are related. Because the area around Montecito was charred, the hills were made unstable from the lack of vegetation as they were pounded by torrential rains. Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown compared the scene to "a World War One battlefield.