With more than 10,000 residents of Montecito, California ordered to evacuate their homes for fear of mudslides, Ellen DeGeneres is urging folks to “stay safe.”
As winter storms brought flooding rains, the former chat show host was one of the stars who evacuated the area in Santa Barbara County, which is also home to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and Oprah Winfrey, to name a few.
On Monday, more than eight inches of rain pounded the area in less than 12 hours, with more expected.
With a muddy, storm-swollen creek thundering behind her, Ellen tweeted Monday evening, “So, Montecito is under complete evacuation. The entire town. This is the five-year anniversary from the fire and mudslides that killed so many people and people lost their homes and lives.”
Mudslides then killed nearly two dozen people and flattened more than 100 homes.
Ellen added, “This is crazy that on the five year anniversary we are having unprecedented rain. This creek next to our house never flows ever.” DeGeneres said the creek has swelled “about nine feet up,” with two more feet expected. “We need to be nicer to Mother Nature: Mother Nature is not happy with us,” she said. “Stay safe everybody.”
She ended with a “Yikes!”
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