Ellen DeGeneres posts video of raging floodwaters near her home
Ellen DeGeneres has posted a social-media video of raging floodwaters by one of her homes in Montecito, California. Credit: Invision / AP / Richard Shotwell
Comedian and former daytime talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres posted a video Monday of flash flooding near one of her Southern California homes, and urged those in the area to heed authorities' warnings and find safe ground.
"Montecito is under mandatory evacuation," DeGeneres, who turns 65 later this month, wrote of the upscale, rural coastal community in Santa Barbara County, where real estate sites say she and her wife Portia de Rossi have at least four homes. Oprah Winfrey as well as Prince Harry and wife Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, are also among the area's residents.
"We are on higher ground so they asked us to shelter in place," DeGeneres wrote. "Please stay safe everyone."
The accompanying selfie video shows a muddy torrent raging across a wooded area as DeGeneres stands on a bank, wearing a gray hoodie. "So Montecito is under complete evacuation, the entire town," she shouts above the water's fury. "This is the five-year anniversary [of] the fire and mudslides that killed so many people, and people lost their homes, their lives," she said of the catastrophic Thomas Fire that began Dec. 4, 2017. The blaze itself killed two people but led to mudslides that killed more than 20 others.
"We are having unprecedented rain," DeGeneres added. "This creek next to our house never flows, ever. It's probably about nine feet up and it could go another two feet up. We have horses ready to evacuate." Storms in the area have claimed at least 15 lives as of Tuesday evening. Whether the final tally of rainfall and fatalities makes this unprecedented or not, the area has seen major floods in 1825, 1861-62, 1914, 1995 and 2018.
"We need to be nicer to Mother Nature, because Mother Nature is not happy with us," DeGeneres continued. "Let's all do our part. Stay safe everybody." She then pans the camera back and forth to show the raging floodwaters. Back on camera she concludes with: "Yikes."
Shortly after she posted, the National Weather Service's Los Angeles station tweeted, "DANGEROUS LIFE THREATENING FLASH FLOODING across southern Santa Barbara county and central Ventura county through this evening as additional heavy rain moves into the area. Follow orders from emergency officials."
