Ellen DeGeneres urges Montecito residents to be safe after ‘unprecedented’ rain

By Mike Bedigan, PA Los Angeles Correspondent

Ellen DeGeneres has urged residents of Montecito, in California, to “stay safe” as the area continues to experience “unprecedented” weather conditions.

The US talk show host and comedian posted a video of herself from near her home, which she shares with spouse Portia de Rossi, beside a rushing river.

It comes after local authorities ordered an evacuation of the area which is home to other famous faces including actor Rob Lowe, Oprah Winfrey and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Montecito is under mandatory evacuation. We are on higher ground so they asked us to shelter in place. Please stay safe everyone. pic.twitter.com/7dv5wfNSzG

— Ellen DeGeneres (@EllenDeGeneres) January 9, 2023

The extreme weather comes on the five-year anniversary of deadly mudslides in the seaside community that left 23 people dead and destroyed more than 100 homes.

Speaking in a video on her social media accounts, DeGeneres said: “This is crazy”.

“We are having unprecedented rain. This creek near to our house never flows ever (and it’s) probably about nine feet up.

“It could go another two feet up. We have horses ready to evacuate.”

“We need to be nicer to Mother Nature, because Mother Nature is not happy with us.”

DeGeneres added in the caption of her post: “We are on higher ground so they asked us to shelter in place. Please stay safe everyone.

On Monday, a 5-year-old boy was swept away by floodwaters, and the death toll from the string of storms climbed from 12 to 14 on Monday, after two people were killed by falling trees, state officials said.

Tens of thousands of people remained without power, and some schools closed for the day, with streets and highways flooded and trees felled.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said the decision to evacuate nearly 10,000 people was “based on the continuing high rate of rainfall with no indication that that is going to change before nightfall”.