Severe flooding hits california, thousands evacuated

At least 12 people died and roughly 25,000 people in California were ordered to evacuate on Monday (January 9), including the entire town of Montecito and nearby areas of the Santa Barbara coast, due to heightened flood and mudslide hazards from a recent string of deadly storms, officials said. Actress-comedian Ellen DeGeneres posted a video selfie on Twitter of herself standing in the rain beside a flooded torrent flowing through what she described as a normally dry creek bed near her property in Montecito.