marci gonzalez, abc news, about your bank, california. >>> rebecca riskin is the sister of a spokesman for the alameda district attorney. the real estate agency intends to carry out her life work with the same strength, grace and he will ghans defined her. >>> other victims, 69-year-old josephine guar died when she opened the door to her home. she was a former nurse and a grandmother of three. >> one of the oldest victims was 84-year-old roy rohter, the founder of a ventura catholic school. his wife was injured and remains hospitalized. >> tonight, california national guard members based in moffett field returned from southern california. they rescued several survivors from the mud slides. abc7 news reporter janine de la vega tells us about their experience new at 11:00. >> reporter: it's been a long three days for senior air man ryan garot. he and the 129th rescue wing just returned from seeing people in southern california lose everything. >> it was devastating. you could see basically the mudslide and the effects of the mudslide resulting in cars through second story windows, roofs

marci gonzalez, abc news, about your bank, california. >>> rebecca riskin is the sister of a spokesman for the alameda district attorney. the real estate agency intends to carry out her life work with the same strength, grace and he will ghans defined her. >>> other victims, 69-year-old josephine guar died when she opened the door to her home. she was a former nurse and a grandmother of three. >> one of the oldest victims was 84-year-old roy rohter, the founder of a ventura catholic school. his wife was injured and remains hospitalized. >> tonight, california national guard members based in moffett field returned from southern california. they rescued several survivors from the mud slides. abc7 news reporter janine de la vega tells us about their experience new at 11:00. >> reporter: it's been a long three days for senior air man ryan garot. he and the 129th rescue wing just returned from seeing people in southern california lose everything. >> it was devastating. you could see basically the mudslide and the effects of the mudslide resulting in cars through second story windows, roofs

includes a childhood friend. >> rebecca riskin. heart goes out to family. >> reporter: search and rescue continues. california department of corrections team is working to cut down trees looking for survivors nearly 70 hours after the mud slides started. abc7 news. >>> bring in weather anchor spencer christian with a look at current conditions for rescuers. >> it is improving. little consolation but weather conditions returning to some sense of normal. live doppler 7, take you to montecito. it's mainly clear. about 59 degrees, calm wind. we expect over the next three days sunny skies friday, saturday and sunday with increase in offshore flow. santa ana winds will warm things, be mild over the weekend. temperatures in 70s. no weather threat over the next few days. >> thank you. >>> devastating mud slides are no surprise to experts after the season's first big storm. david louie talked to geothermal engineer at university about the slides. >> reporter: number of fatalities and extent of property damage far from unexpected. houses wer

includes a childhood friend. >> rebecca riskin. heart goes out to family. >> reporter: search and rescue continues. california department of corrections team is working to cut down trees looking for survivors nearly 70 hours after the mud slides started. abc7 news. >>> bring in weather anchor spencer christian with a look at current conditions for rescuers. >> it is improving. little consolation but weather conditions returning to some sense of normal. live doppler 7, take you to montecito. it's mainly clear. about 59 degrees, calm wind. we expect over the next three days sunny skies friday, saturday and sunday with increase in offshore flow. santa ana winds will warm things, be mild over the weekend. temperatures in 70s. no weather threat over the next few days. >> thank you. >>> devastating mud slides are no surprise to experts after the season's first big storm. david louie talked to geothermal engineer at university about the slides. >> reporter: number of fatalities and extent of property damage far from unexpected. houses wer

. >> at least 17 people are dead including rebecca riskin her son robert getting the grim news.ope that she knows i was giving everything to find her. >> now k-9s and rescue workers are trudging through the mud hopefully to find people alive. >> people are missing 8 or 9 days and they find them alive. people are working hard to make that happen. >> people forced to leave their homes will not be able to return until the evacuation orders are lifted that may not happen for two weeks. >>> a big rig fell off a busy overpass in texas and landed on top of the car below and some how everyone involved survived this, look at this incredible and scary scene. police say that the driver of an suv hit the back of the truck causing the truck to jackknife and trip over the overpass. boy. they say that the truck was empty otherwise the car it landed on would have been crushed. the drivers of the car and truck were sent to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. >>> facebook plan to overhaul the way users news feeds look and work. with meaningful interactions, they are changing their al

>> i know people already, personally, who have die >> reporter: also 12 year old sawyer, and rebecca riskin, a prominent realtor. >> it's too horrific here for someone to survive that. >> reporter: her son returning to her mud-pummeled home. >> i hope that she knows that i was giving everything i could to find her. >> reporter: as time starts running out for these teams to find others. marci gonzalez, abc news, burbank, california. >>> more than 120 million americans are in the path of a winter storm that will bring a mixed bag of weather. through tomorrow. oklahoma felt the cold front that literally rolled in south of the city. wind gusts up to 50 miles per hour for thursday. over the next few hours, colder air will rush into the midwest and cause temperatures to drop. friday morning areas of heavy rain will hit parts of the east coast. in the evening, heavy rain hits the i-95 corridor from so it will be a perfect weekend to get away. just drive, i'd say around rush hour. just don't. >>> in the meantime, new video just in. a heavy snowstorm in japan stranded more than 400 passengers on a c

<"josie gower is one and rebecca riskin and their bodies were found down, you know, down at the 101 from glen oaks 192, so that's almost two miles. so it's real sad, more so when you know these people.">( james ) the areas where the victims were found remains under mandatory evacuation. these deadly mudslides came after the thomas fire -- the largest in state history. heavy rains triggered mudslides in burned out areas. authorities say nearly 600 structures are damaged or destroyed from the ( james ) amtrak has resumed service across parts of southern california. the deadly mudslides in ventura and santa barbara counties forced the amtrak pacific surfliner tracks to close earlier this week. amtrak says they expect high demands for the service since highway 101 is expected to stay closed through monday. ( james ) take a look at the video of a mudflow down in burbank. you can see the muddy waters... so powerful... they push a car right down the road. the video was taken by burbank firefighters. they posted it to instagram writing -- "urban prius bobsledding in burbank!" the driver and his

resident curt pickering lost two friends.curt pickering/montecito resident "josie gower is one and rebecca riskin and their bodies were found down, you know, down at the 101 from glen oaks 192, so that's almost two miles. so it's real sad, more so when you know these people."the areas where the victims were found remain under mandatory evacuation.on thursday the sheriff's office said 48 people were missing but later revised that number to eight -- but say as many as 43 could still be unaccounted for.these deadly mudslides came after the thomas fire -- the largest in state history.heavy rains triggered mudslides in scorched areas, stripped of vegetation.the torrential rains were felt across southern california -- even in burbank where a mudflow pushed this car down a street.the two people inside were able to eventually gain control of the car and escaped without injury. but some californians fear there could be more storms like this in the future.cecil kyte/california resident"could it be 3, 4 more? if you look at the hills up here, everything's exposed and i would ask people to prepare themselves

among the dead, 61-year-old rebecca riskin. we talked to her friend and business partner by phone. >> she embodied a strength and grace and elegance and poise and love. all in one human being. and she was taken from us too soon but she will always remain in our hearts. >> a 30 person team from marin county office of emergency services regional task force 1 is in montecito helping with rescue and recovery efforts. they were in the same area three weeks ago battling the thomas fire. >>> a rescue squad at moffett airbase is back in the bay area after spending three days in montecito. when airmen describe the people they rescued as grateful but overwhelmed by what they'd been through. >> it was a somber moment for sure. they were thankful to be out. you could see it in their eyes that they were worried about what's behind them. >> the 129th rescue wing picked up three that comes age is 13 to 58. the crew had to choose only spots carefully for their helicopter to avoid getting stuck in the mud. >>> the u.s. postal service says 40 of

. >> reporter: among those confirmed dead, rebecca riskin, a well known area real estate agent, roy roiter, founder of a private catholic school, jim and alice mitchell and josie gower. >> every name that turns up it's someone's dad, cousin, teacher and that's got to be the worst part of it all i think. >> reporter: much of highway 101, the main road between los angeles and santa barbara, remains buried under several feet of dirt. crews are working this hour to clear away that stretch of 101 that was swallowed by mud and officials are saying they don't expect it to fully reopen until sometime on monday. reporting in possibility -- montecito, california, i'm chris martinez. back to you. >>> pets are also falling victims stranded by mud and debris with nowhere to go. the coastguard has been rescuing dogs and cats. a helicopter as you can see lowers down a basket to bring them up. they've rescued five dogs in this particular scene at the montecito golf course. look here. the twisted metal that you see are actually cars that ended up right on the beach in montecito. they wound up about 100 fee

. >> reporter: 12-year-old sawyer cory, her sister morgan and rebecca riskin. her son returning to her mud pummeled home. >> i hope she knows that i was giving everything i could to find her. >> reporter: as time starts running out for these teams to find others. marci gonzalez, abc news, burbank, california. >> a major winter storm has 120 million people in its path. parts of the northern plains could see up to two feet of snow. pushing bitter cold temperatures into the midwest and in front of that heavy rains will soak the south as well as the major cities of the northeast. let's take >> good morning, we're talking about a major storm in the northeast. big concern for the i-95 corridor is wed weather that is going to lead to flooding but with cold air plunging in behind the system we'll have a changeover to ice and even some snow for the interior part of the northeast. when it comes to snowfall amounts the highest totals close to the canadian border. could see upwards of a foot and a half in some spots. with your accuweather forecast i'm meteorologist julia w

searching for his mother, rebecca riskin. her death confirmed today. and now, they turn to the grim task of salvaging keepsakes from a home invaded by mud, rocks and death. the family accepting all the help it could get. >> you know, i know at least -- i hope that she knows that i was giving everything i could to find her. >> reporter: santa barbara officials only issued the first emergency alert nearly 20 minutes after the mudslides began. many did not heed the voluntary evacuation warnings. given the freak nature of the downpour, it might not have mattered anyway. >> they screwed up big time. they should have -- they should have said anyone in the floodplain should get the hell out. >> and matt gutman with us tonight. those conditions are so grueling, we know rescuers still haven't been able to search the entire area yet. >> reporter: that's right, david. what you're seeing behind me is basically ground zero for these mudslides. just one of them came tearing through here, steamrolling through that bridge, it severed a gas main down there. that ignite

they're mother and realtor rebec rebecca riskin anze school founder roy rohter. >> more than 75 miles away in burba burbank, new video shows a car to outrun rushing water and mud. carter evans is in montecito where hopes of finding survivors are dimming. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. rescue crews say they've covered about 75% of the search area, but the scale is so big, i've got to be hones with you. justice here.are hardly doing it imagine it's 4:00 a.m. you're sleeping in your home. you hear some rumbling. that's what everybody said. you wake up and wonder what's going on and, bam, you get slammed by boulders and a wall of mud. they don't just hit the home. they go right through it. this is a small boulder. most of them are the size of cars. the debris field from the deadly montecito mudslides covers 30 square miles. search dogs are assisting in the ongoing rescue effort, but for responders, time is running out. friends and family members are joining in the search as well. >> reporter: aden is desperately trying to find his mom josie. >> we're going to go down the creek a

they are mother and realtor rebecca riskin and catholic education leader and school founder roy rohter. hundreds of emergency workers are breaking through rooftops and searching through the mud for victims. >> more than 75 miles away in burbank, new video shows a car racing down a windy road trying to outrun rushing water and mud. carter evans is in montecito, northwest of los angeles. >> reporter: search teams say they've covered about 75% of the disaster area right now. this home has been checked. the scope of this disaster is so big that pictures really don't do it justice. this all happened at 4:00 in the morning. people were sound asleep. they say they heard a rumbling. that's what woke them up. and then bam, the wall of mud slams right into their homes and, in some cases, goes through their homes. it contains boulders like this. these are small boulders. in some cases, many of them were as big as a car. the debris field from the deadly montecito mudslides covers 30 square miles. search dogs are assisting in the ongoing rescue effort. but for responders, time is running out. frien

. >> i've lost two people to this horrific catastrophe, josie gower being one and rebecca riskin, and their bodies were found down at the 101 from glen oaks 192. so that's almost 2 miles. so it's real sad, more so when you know these people. >> reporter: the searchers did not find anything today, but they will come back out tomorrow and bring the dogs and see if they alert to anything else and again begin digging. they certaintily don't want to leave anyone out here. >> this mudslide has been seen millions of times, a prius pushing down the street through the muddy water and makes the turn somehow. you can see the windshield wipers were on, but it's unclear if anyone was in the car. >>> president trump in the oval office today said, "why are we having all these people from expletive hole countries come here?" sources briefed on the meeting say he was referring to haiti and african nations. lawmakers were briefing the president on a compromised plan to protect hundreds of thousands of young immigrants from deportation while bolstering border security. mr. trumped they should be bringin

among the dead, 61-year-old rebecca riskin. we spoke to her friend and business partner by phone. >> she embodied strength and grace and elegance and poise and love. all in one human being. and she was taken from us too soon but she will always remain in our hearts. >> a 30 person team from the marin county office of emergency services is in montecito now helping with the rescue and recovery. they were in the same area three weeks ago battling the thomas fire. >>> some of the neighborhoods in burbank also saw that flooding. look at this. a river of mud pushing a previous down a hill. down the street. firefighters in burbank posted this on instagram. this was taken on country club drive on tuesday. the driver meted out safely. >>> the u.s. postal service at 40 of its trucks in oakland have been covered with graffiti in the past few months. the postal service said the graffiti outside the facility on third street increased after the parking lot they were leasing across the street closed and was sold to a developer. now they park

among them rebecca riskin. the sister of the deputy de. also killed is josephine gauer. we interviewed her son as he was frantically searching for her. 17 of the victims are children. the youngest three years old. also video from the town of montecito it's heart breaking to watch. tonight eight people missing and in the last hour rescuers say that number could actually be higher. santa barbara county sheriff says the authorities are looking for as many as 43 people possibly. as you saw the knee-deep murder caking over the search more difficult. nbc bay area's reporter joins us. abanother difficult day for the search crews and that community. >> reporter: absolutely and not ounl do the rescue crews come by to search for survivors a first time they also do a second in section. so a big commitment to looking for survivors. nearly 700 firefighters focused on 30 square miles. 70 hours of searching there still isn't enough you can do. >> we're coming back doing a secondary search with a fresh set of eyes, see if there was anything missed. >> this is a search crew from fresno l

riskin tuesday in the dark, weeping in the husk of his family home. his sister and father-in-law survived, but in the fading light, he said his mother, rebecca, a prominent realtor, was still out there. >> you know, it's my mom and i'm fighting with all my heart to find her, but like, didn't focus too much on, she's most likely dead out here, you know? and just push my way through. was back. family members forming a search party. the reality crushing. >> we just need the rescue personnel to come down and help us look is what we're hoping. >> reporter: the thomas fire denuded the nearby hills of vegetation that might have absorbed the rain, and when it came, the rain was biblical. >> 0.86 of an inch in 15 minutes is an unprecedented rainfall on any ground surface, much less a fire-burned watershed. >> reporter: all that water surged off the bare hills, funneled into to montecito's dry creek beds. when you see the size of these boulders, it gives you a sense of the power that forces these giant rocks and these giant trees downstream. oprah winfrey, surveying the damage to her property, too. >> so, there used to be a fence right here. that's my neighbor's h

riskin searching for his mother, a prominent realtor. >> i'm fighting with all my heart to find her. >> reporter: on wednesday he was back with a search party of family and friends including rebecca's sister, theresa. >> we know she is down there. >> reporter: we gave her a ride to search with a professional team of rescuers. but officials say 500 members of search and rescue teams were picking through the debris including julie kirk-purcell and her dog, zero. we saw them earlier squeezing through this window, zero perched on her shoulder and we met up with them again later. when you look at everything, 360 degrees from where we are, is it even possible, do you think, that somebody might have survived this? >> possibly. >> possible, yeah. >> absolutely. >> reporter: with no water and no power, squadrons of helicopters had to airlift hundreds of residents stranded in an area called romero canyon which is still impassable this morning. back on glen oaks street after a couple of hours of searching hayden and teresa started talking. until that moment they were complete strangers. now united in grief and buoyed by that embrace. we just learned sad news in that, is that teresa's sister h