Hope fades for mud survivors

Rescue crews have expanded their search for five missing people as the death toll rose to 18 from Southern California mudslides that damaged hundreds of buildings and highways.

About 1250 emergency workers raced against the clock to find survivors with drones, heavy equipment and sniffer dogs in the rescue and clean-up efforts, the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services said.

Yesterday, 87-year-old Joseph Bleckel was found dead in his Montecito home, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said. The missing are aged between 2 and 30.

"We've got a window that's closing, but we're still very optimistic. There's been plenty of cases where they've found people a week after," Santa Barbara County Fire Department spokesman Mike Eliason said.

Secondary searches of damaged structures were under way. Residents in some areas were subject to a new mandatory evacuation, emergency officials said, as the unstable environment remained a threat.

Triggered by heavy rains, the massive slides struck before dawn on Tuesday, local time.

Walls of mud and debris cascaded down hillsides stripped of trees and shrubs by last month's wildfires, including the Thomas Fire, the largest blaze in the state's history.

Excavators carrying rescuers in their buckets ploughed through mud-coated roads in search of the missing after some areas were buried in as much as 4.6m of mud.

"It is heavy. It's wet. It just exhausts the crews out there," Sacramento Fire Department Captain Pat Costamagna said.

County officials have already ordered residents in most of the southeastern corner of Montecito to leave their homes for one or two weeks to aid the search and recovery efforts.

In one of the worst-hit areas of Montecito, mud blew through doors and windows, filling the interiors of houses with sludge and debris.

Powerlines were downed and cars were perched on mounds of earth after garage doors caved in.

The cause of death for most of the victims will be listed as multiple traumatic injuries resulting from flash floods with mudslides, the Santa Barbara Sheriff's office said. The dead were aged from 3 to 89.