Das, it's nice to meet you.
Thanks for being here.
When we talked to Oprah last week,
you were trying to ride a bike and trying to get to a truck
so we could talk.
And it took you hours, and you still couldn't get there.
So thanks for trying.
Thanks for being here.
The news is reporting it, but I think
people don't really understand how serious
and how horrible this is.
It's bad.
If you've seen the pictures, it's as bad as it looks.
And if you haven't seen the pictures,
it's worse than you can imagine.
And we're working very hard.
And I want to thank you for being willing to highlight
the plight of our community.
It's so important.
It's the greatest community.
I love it there.
And I love how people are coming together
to do anything they can to help what's happening right now.
That's the amazing part.
And we are doing everything we can, from water distribution,
because most of the water is not potable, to a candlelight vigil
that we did on Sunday, which was really
important for the community.
Thousands of people showed up.
It was.
If you're familiar with the Sunken Gardens, that's a space.
And more people showed up than I've ever seen
in a non-entertainment event.
And we had clergy of every denomination or faith
that you could think of.
And that was really important for the community, and even
some of the families of the victims.
And the people that still do have businesses,
because most businesses are gone, are donating food.
They're serving sandwiches.
They're helping in every way they can.
There is a little shop right in the middle of the disaster
area, that Village Wine and Cheese,
where they are still making sandwiches.
They don't take money.
And he's taken donations for recovery online,
but he's not taking any cash.
That's amazing, because there are so many people--
[APPLAUSE]
And I keep saying--
Because people think that Montecito
is this affluent area.
And it is.
There are wealthy people who live there that'll be OK,
and everyone can rebuild.
But everyone knows a home is a home.
No matter if you have money or you don't have money,
your home is gone.
And then there are people that don't have businesses anymore.
They don't have anyone working.
Gardeners can't work because there's no water.
They can't do anything.
Housekeepers can't work.
People that work in stores can't work.
Waiters and waitresses can't work.
Everything is shut down.
People are losing money every day.
And I think if you look at the victims, the 20 or 23
individuals, they represent every stripe of life
in our community, from professional, prominent hand
surgeon and realtor, to low income service workers.
Yeah.
And their family was especially hard hit.
And so not everybody who lives in our community has means.
Right
And this, of course, has highlighted that.
Yes.
So it's 100 homes lost, and I think
it's like 242 homes damaged and pretty much destroyed.
But 115 homes gone.
28 injuries.
20 people-- it seems like 23 people dead,
because the three that are still missing.
We're talking about babies, children.
It's people losing-- A missing family member still.
Several families, more than one family member.
Now, on the other side, there's amazing stories.
A child that was pulled out of the mud and survived.
Over 500 rescues, 500 rescues in a relatively small community.
Our first responders are doing a great job.
They are.
They're amazing.
[APPLAUSE]
These guys had just started getting some rest
from the fires, and then this happened just two weeks later.
And they're exhausted.
And they're finding and seeing things
that are horrific while they're exhausted,
while they're hungry and tired.
And
We're going to take a break, and we'll
talk about more what people can do to help.
But what is the latest as far as--
I think the 101 won't be open for another week or so.
At least.
At least, maybe longer.
Because they keep finding--
The water keeps rising, right?
So there's a water main break.
So every time they try to--
And a creek running into the 101.
Right.
So they can't stop that.
And there's also-- Well, you know what?
We'll take a break, because I want
to talk about the debris catch and everything and rain
coming up.
[APPLAUSE]
We're back with Santa Barbara County Supervisor Das Williams.
So what can people do to help that
want to help all these people and animals and everything?
Well, a sure bet is the Red Cross.
They have been a big help through this crisis.
There is a Kickstarter campaign for some of the victims.
I can't tell you that our DA has got a chance to vet those yet.
But I'm 99% certain the Benitez family Kickstarter
campaign is genuine.
And they're a low income family whose family
is still in the hospital.
Is it the whole family in the hospital?
Most of the family.
And the other thing is something that you wouldn't think about.
We need more deputy sheriffs.
So young people, join the academy.
They were in overtime when the crisis, December 4th, started.
Can you imagine how exhausted they are now?
And then, lastly, we need your help.
We're a tourist driven economy.
People could help us rebuild just
by recreating in Santa Barbara.
There's no problem to entering Santa Barbara from the north.
The south will be tricky for another week
or a little bit more.
But don't cancel your plans to come to Santa Barbara.
We need your help to rebuild the community.
Yes.
Tourism is everything.
Same thing in New Orleans when Katrina hit.
New Orleans needed that, where I was born, my hometown.
So let's talk about the animals, because there
were a lot of horses there.
There were a lot of animals that were trapped in houses
that are now taken out.
Tell us about the animals.
Well, you will get no argument from Santa Barbarans.
We all love animals.
And even our first responders do.
There has been no directive from on high,
but what I'm hearing from residents
is that our first responders are feeding the animals there.
And then, of course, a number of them
get evacuated to sites, such as the Humane
Society of Santa Barbara.
And they're a big part of our community too.
Yeah.
I know on Earl Warren's Fairgrounds there are horses
and there are all kinds of animals that don't have
a home anymore that are there.
We've been asking for contractors and electricians
and people to help, because they have to build
fences to keep the horses in.
And we have to feed the horses, and we
have to feed the people who are feeding the horses.
And so there's all kinds of things
that you can do if you go to our web site.
We're really trying to help all we can all these people.
And I've been partnering with Cheerios all season long.
They called, and they want to make a donation of $25,000
to the Santa Barbara Humane Society
to help care for displaced animals in Montecito.
[APPLAUSE]
So thank you so much, Cheerios, for that.
And if you can go to our website to find out how you can help,
there's so much that we need.
And I urge you to do that.