10 of the Deadliest Natural Disasters in 2023.

Earthquakes took tens of thousands of lives in 2023.

A Year of Disaster

As the sun sets on the hottest year on record, climate change and its disastrous effects figure prominently in discussions among global leaders. In December, the U.N. Climate Change Conference, known as COP28, saw the official launch of a “loss and damage” fund to provide financial assistance to developing countries facing severe impacts of climate change.

Indeed, 2023 was host to a variety of disasters, some of them the worst their respective countries have seen in years – if not decades. Though the year saw many of such catastrophes, earthquakes dominated the top 10, in some cases taking thousands of lives at once

Here are 10 of the deadliest natural disasters of 2023:

Wildfire Kills at Least 100 in Hawaii

Drought and wind gusts coalesced on the Hawaiian island of Maui on Aug. 8 to create the conditions for a series of fires that raged for three days before being mostly contained. The blaze eventually took the lives of at least 100 people, staking its claim as one of the deadliest wildfires in U.S. history. Early estimates by the University of Hawaii's Pacific Disaster Center and the Federal Emergency Management Agency placed the cost of rebuilding at $5.52billion.

Heavy Rain and Flooding Kill at Least 129 in Rwanda.

During the night of May 2, heavy rain pummeled northern and western Rwanda, destroying 5,000 homes and killing at least 129.

Cyclone Mocha Kills at Least 145 in Myanmar.

Flash floods and winds of up to 130 mph from Cyclone Mocha ripped through Myanmar on May 14, causing the deaths of at least 145 people, many of whom belonged to the heavily persecuted Rohingya minority group, according to the Associated Press. The storm was one of the worst experienced by the Southeast Asian nation in years.

Earthquake Claims at Least 157 Lives in Nepal.

On Nov. 3, a 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck western Nepal and killed at least 157 people. Sitting at the meeting point of the Indian and Asian tectonic plates, the mountainous nation is no stranger to seismic activity. One of its most destructive earthquakes took almost 9,000 lives in 2015.

Floods in the DRC Take More Than 438 Lives.

Early May saw torrential rain fall on the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, causing flash flooding and mudslides. The flood water killed at least 438 people and left thousands more missing or homeless. Heavy rain and extreme flooding have become increasingly common in Africa in recent years due to climate change, according to the U.N.

Tropical Cyclone Freddy Kills at least 679 in Malawi.

For six days in early March, heavy rains from Tropical Cyclone Freddy fell upon Malawi and took the lives of at least 679 people, though Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera said the actual toll likely exceeds 1,000. While Malawi bore the brunt of the destruction, other countries in southern Africa were not spared. At least 17 people died in Madagascar, and at least 183 died in Mozambique, where 184,000 people were displaced.

Earthquake in Afghanistan Kills At Least 1,480.

A 6.3-magnitude quake shook western Afghanistan on Oct. 7, killing at least 1,480 people and injuring thousands more. The disaster compounded already precarious conditions of food insecurity and further imperiled women in the country, who – along with children – accounted for more than 90% of the fatalities, per the United Nations. Due to its position at the intersection of multiple tectonic plates, Afghanistan is the site of frequent seismic activity. A 5.9-magnitude event wrought similar devastation in the eastern end of the nation last year.

Earthquake Kills 2,946 in Morocco.

A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck 45 miles southwest of Marrakech, Morocco, on Sept. 8, taking 2,946 lives and injuring 5,674, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information. An official at the country’s National Institute of Geophysics described the quake as the strongest ever recorded in the region.

Storm Daniel Kills at Least 4,352 in Libya.

On Sept. 10, Storm Daniel smashed into the Mediterranean coastal city of Derna in Libya, bringing with it torrential rain and considerable flooding and bursting two of the city’s dams. As of Oct. 31, the official toll sits at 4,352 lives lost, with an estimated 8,000 still missing and feared dead. In the wake of the disaster, Libya’s chief prosecutor has levied charges against local officials for negligence and mismanagement that he says worsened the catastrophe.

Earthquake Takes Upwards of 55,000 Lives in Turkey and Syria.

On Feb. 6, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck southeast Turkey near the Syria border, followed by a 7.5-magnitude aftershock mere hours later and multiple other temblors. As a result, the humanitarian situation in Syria, already afflicted by a host of crises, deteriorated further.

The disaster took the lives of more than 55,000 people, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Most of the dead were Turkish. Turkey’s last 7.8-magnitude quake in 1939 caused more than 32,000 deaths, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

These are 10 of 2023’s deadliest natural disasters:

1. Earthquake Takes More Than 55,000 Lives in Turkey and Syria .
2. February 2023 Storm Daniel Kills at Least 4,352 People in Libya September 2023.
3.  Earthquake Kills 2,946 in Morocco  September 2023.
4. Earthquake in Afghanistan Kills at Least 1,480 October 2023.
5. Tropical Cyclone Freddy Kills at Least 679 in Malawi March 2023
6.  Flooding in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Kills at Least 438 May 2023 
7. Earthquake Claims at Least 157 Lives in Nepal November 2023 
8. Cyclone Mocha Kills at Least 145 in Myanmar  May 2023 
9. Heavy Rain and Flooding Kill at Least 129 in Rwanda May 2023
10.  Wildfire Kills at Least 100 in Hawaii  May 2023.

Source: www.usnews.com

Hurricane Matthew

Florida prays for Haiti, prepares for Hurricane Matthew

Preparations and prayers are underway as Hurricane Matthew set its sights on a number of islands in the Caribbean, with Haiti being among the most vulnerable.

Mission of Hope Haiti, the formerly Fort Myers-based ministry, was already getting food and water lined up and delivered to the island over the weekend, while the storm was the topic of conversation at many of Haitian-Creole and Caribbean churches in Fort Myers on Sunday.

As of 5 p.m. Sunday, Matthew, a category 4 hurricane, was about 320 miles south-southwest of Port Au Prince, Haiti, moving west at about 5 mph.

Matthew is expected to produce 15 to 25 inches of rain over southern Haiti, with possible isolated maximum amounts of 40 inches. Matthew is expected to produce 10 to 20 inches of rain over eastern Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and eastern Cuba, with possible isolated maximum amounts of 25 inches. This rainfall will produce life-threatening flash floods and mud slides, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The Mission of Hope Haiti, a Christian organization dedicated to helping Haiti, had more than 200,000 emergency meals put together and distributed to parts of the island that are considered possible hot spots for need after a storm hits.

The organization, now headquartered in Austin, Texas, is gearing up to assist the island nation after Matthew passes.

"We've been mobilizing since Saturday," said Janeil Owen, director of the group's HaitiOne Ministry. "We need to get to some specific zones that are troubling along the southern peninsula."

Owen, who lived in Haiti for 15 years, said that preparing for the storm ahead of time would help the organization meet the needs of a lot of Haitians who will likely be affected by Matthew.

"Waiting to see what happens can be devastating," he said.

Owen said the organization has connecting ministries all over Haiti, which will allow them to find out just where supplies and relief is needed.

"I'm able to start connecting with a lot of our partners and talk about what they are doing and what should be done in advance of the storm," he said. "We want to have supplies in place in advance."

Owen said there are areas in Haiti that will get cut off and cannot be easily access if a major storm like Matthew hits.

The 200,000 emergency meals already sent are comprised of rice, soy, vegetables and a mineral powder that will take care of up to 70 percent of a person's required daily nutritional needs, Owen said, adding that water supplies are also being prepared in case they are needed.

"We're ready to go," he said. "It's crazy wicked in terms of what we might experience."

Owen said he was planning on heading to the island in a few days to help coordinate relief.

Mission of Hope Haiti's president, Brad Johnson, said the organization would distribute information on how to support disaster relief efforts if the storm reaches Haiti.

In Lee County, Robert Pompliano, mission director for the church, said the congregation has a church in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and is studying the situation and praying for its members.

"We're poised," he said. "We'll wait and see."

The church has an airplane that goes to Haiti periodically, Pompliano added. "We have access to bring them stuff."

The church was in the midst of a move from a temporary location to the old Riverside Baptist Church on Palm Beach Boulevard.

Pastor Rony Prophete, of Heavenly Canaan Baptist Church, said his Haitian and Creole congregation have helped before when there's been a problem in Haiti. The church meets in the fellowship hall of the Christian Faith Fellowship Church in Fort Myers.

"We're prepared," he said. "We hope God can do something."

And Will Ponce, associate pastor at Templo Cristiano El Buen Samaritano in Fort Myers, said members of the church had discussed the hurricane's impact at Sunday school and said a special prayer for those in Haiti.

"We will join in the relief efforts in the community," he said. "A lot of members of the church are from that area or have family there."

As Matthew inched closer Sunday, Lehigh Acres resident Rachelle Ford said her family in Port-au-Prince has not had the opportunity to prepare for such a storm.

"There's not much you can do, especially when you barely have money for the necessities," she said.

"You just kind of pray. You just pray for the best."

Ford said she has communicated with her aunts and cousins about the storm's pathway.

"They say all we are doing is just holding on tight and praying to God, we are just praying the storm goes easy on us," Ford, 33, said.

Ford, who owns Fort Myers-based Ford Entertainment Magazine, said she is worried about the storm.

"Haiti is very mountainous," Ford said. "It either builds momentum from the mountains or it dies off by the mountains."

She said she is hoping for the best.





source: usatoday

Sand fire rages in Santa Clarita Valley

'The most frightening thing': 10,000 homes evacuated as Sand fire rages in Santa Clarita Valley

Wind-whipped flames raged overnight in the steep, rugged mountains of the Santa Clarita Valley, charring more than 33,000 acres and threatening thousands of homes.

2 more homes confirmed destroyed by Cold Springs fire, brings total to 5

2 more homes confirmed destroyed by Cold Springs fire, brings total to 5

The blaze is estimated at 606 acres and zero percent containment

NEDERLAND — Two more homes were confirmed destroyed by the Cold Springs fire on Monday, bringing the total number of houses consumed by the blaze to five.

Officials released the news after a damage assessment team toured the burn area. Another 65 homes are within the fire’s perimeter, according to emergency managers, however no other houses are currently within the blaze’s immediate path.

The county identified the newly recognized homes destroyed in the blaze as being at 2315 Ridge Rd. and 2454 Ridge Rd. They are just north of Boulder Canyon, east of the Barker Reservoir.

More firefighters arrived on Monday to join the fight against the fire burning northeast of Nederland as crews brace for another breezy day despite cooler temperatures.

Helicopter pulls water from Barker Reservoir for #ColdSpringsFire bucket drop pic.twitter.com/aY4iSrjH1f

— Jesse Aaron Paul (@JesseAPaul) July 11, 2016

After little growth overnight, crews will be working on fire lines along Hummer Road and on Hurricane Hill and in the Bonanza area, according to the Boulder County Office of Emergency Management. One of the main goals is to keep the fire north of Boulder Canyon, which remains closed, and away from a large neighborhood that sits on the south side.

“We’re definitely prepared for a hard day,” said Gabi Boerkircher, spokeswoman for the emergency management office. “We’ll just have to see where the wind directs the fire. We definitely do not want (the fire) to cross Boulder Canyon.”

Two spot fires jumped the canyon road Sunday night but crews quickly contained them, according to the Monday morning update. Crews will be stationed in fire engines along Boulder Canyon Drive to watch for any new spot fires on the south side.

Even on Saturday, a few hours after the fire broke out about 1:45 p.m., flames were making runs toward the road.

“Cooler temperatures will make firefighting a little more comfortable for crews battling the Cold Spring fire, but humidity is still low and winds are predicted to be erratic,” the emergency management office said in a briefing bulletin.

Getting breezy early in Ned pic.twitter.com/FEvhIWtS1b

— Jesse Aaron Paul (@JesseAPaul) July 11, 2016

A Red Flag warning is in effect from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. over the area, with forecasters warning of gusts up to 40 mph. Cooler temperatures are expected, and a high of 73 degrees is forecast around the burn zone.

Winds were already picking up about 8:45 a.m. in Nederland. Little smoke was visible, however, as the temperature rose with the sun getting higher in the sky.

“Rapid fire growth and spread will be possible,” the National Weather Service in Boulder said in a forecast bulletin. “Any outdoor burning is strongly discouraged.”

The blaze, which has already burned three homes and three outbuildings, is estimated at 606 acres with no containment. About 2,000 people have been evacuated from a large swath of area as fire commanders brace for the blaze to grow. Contingency plans are in place to move more people out of the area should the fire expand.

Teams are working Monday morning to determine if any other structures have burned. Boerkircher said authorities should know by about 10 a.m. if additional homes were lost.

Boulder County sheriff’s detectives on Sunday afternoon arrested two men from Alabama at the Nederland High School evacuation site in connection with the blaze. They are suspected of being behind a poorly extinguished campfire that ignited the spreading fire.

Campers Jimmy Andrew Suggs, 28, and Zackary Ryan Kuykendall, 26, both of Vinemont, Ala., face felony arson charges because, according to investigators, “lives were endangered as a result of the fire.” The men were booked into the Boulder County jail.

“I’m kind of put out over it,” Rachael Dew said Monday morning of the fire’s cause. “You need to be better educated about fires if you are going to come up here and camp.”

Dew, who was working at the town’s co-op, said the blaze has been stressful for the community. While she hasn’t been evacuated yet, Dew said she has packed up belongings just in case.

With the town’s main artery — Boulder Canyon — closed, there are worries about declining tourism revenues.

Laura Vega, who was evacuated from her home Saturday when the fire broke out nearby, said that Sunday was noticeably slower in Nederland once traffic from Boulder was cut off. The first night away from her house, she slept in the town’s accounting office before moving to a friends place.

“I heard that firefighters did an amazing job in saving our houses,” Vega said. She went through three or four rounds of packing as flames approached her home, grabbing autographed pictures, a Neil Young box CD set and Peruvian weavings among the items she ushered to safety.

Many homeowners forced to flee had livestock in tow. An evacuation center for animals at the Gilpin County fairgrounds had filled up by Sunday night.

More than 450 firefighters, aided by a dozen aircraft, will continue Monday to fight the flames and work to establish a perimeter, according to the Boulder OEM. Officials say one of the main goals is to attack the blaze head-on.

Incident commanders noted just before 11 p.m. on Sunday that fire runs in the afternoon pushed over lines of fire retardant put down by aircraft.

Latest map of #ColdSpringsFire
— Orange is burn area
— Yellow is evacuation zone
— Red dotted lines road closures pic.twitter.com/tBI7TaNRYj

— Matt Sebastian (@mattsebastian) July 11, 2016

“Crowning, torching and spotting are common,” officials said on a website created to release information about the blaze. “New fire perimeter has stretched ground resources, making current air resources critical to success. Fire has spread over roads previously used as escape routes, further limiting tactical options. Predictions for fire growth indicate the potential for significant structure and infrastructure loss, along with closures of two adjacent state highways.”

At 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, command of the Cold Springs fire fight was transferred to Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team Black. The Type II team specializes in commanding battles against major blazes.


source: denverpost

West Virginia floods

West Virginia floods: 7 people dead, including two kids

In this photo released by the The Weather Channel, a vehicle rests on the in a stream after a heavy rain near White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., Friday, June 24, 2016.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A storm system dumped up to 9 inches of rain on parts of West Virginia, trapping 500 people in a shopping center when a bridge washed out, while dozens of other people had to be plucked off rooftops or rescued as water quickly rose during the deluge.

At least seven people died, including an 8-year-old boy who was swept away by swift-moving creek water, and a 4-year-old boy who was caught in rushing waters in a different county, authorities and Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's spokesman said Friday. The rains submerged homes and cars in dirty brown water and chewed up roads. Tens of thousands of people were without power at the peak of the storm.

Some areas are "probably looking at flooding that's going to be the worst in 100 years," Tomblin's spokesman Chris Stadelman said.

Forty-four of West Virginia's 55 counties are under a state of emergency, and parts of the mid-Atlantic region face more severe weather Friday, reports CBS News correspondent Kris Van Cleave.

Eric Blackshire was one of the hundreds of people stranded at the Crossings Mall, a mix of restaurants, retail and grocery stores and a hotel in Elkview, which is about 15 miles northeast of Charleston. The people were trapped when the culvert bridge washed out Thursday, Kanawha County Sheriff's Sgt. B.D. Humphreys said.

Some people had to sleep in their cars or at businesses overnight, and restaurants stayed open to help feed people, WSAZ reported.

Blackshire opted for a room at the hotel.

"It was kind of like a hurricane party. I guess you could call it a flood party. There were lots of beers being drank last night," he told The Associated Press.

He was able to get across Friday when the Pinch Volunteer Fire Department firefighters used a strong rope to guide people down a hillside. About 50 people had been rescued so far.

As for a better solution to get more people to safety, Kanawha County Sheriff's Office spokesman Sgt. Brian Humphreys said: "that's going to require, I think, some engineering efforts" - perhaps a temporary bridge.

"I'm screwed," Blackshire said. "I mean I've only got one vehicle and it's over there now and it's gonna be days before it gets out."

An area near the West Virginia-Virginia border received at least 9 inches of rain while other parts of the state had 3 to 5 inches, National Weather Service hydrologist John Sikora said. While most of the rain had tapered off Friday, there were still scattered showers, thunderstorms and river flood warnings.

Kanawha County emergency officials said there were at least 70 water rescues.

"We had swift water rescue teams out until late last night and back out again this morning literally rescuing people from rooftops and upper stories of houses," Stadelman said.

For hours, Paul Moya was trapped on top of a roof. A diabetic in need of medical attention, he watched as his daughter's home was washed away and shot a video as he waited for rescue.

"I'm still shaking. I really just want to break down and cry right now," Moya said, speaking from his hospital bed. "All I could see was the homes burning and the electrical poles burning. I think I could say that now I was scared."

The heaviest rainfall was in Greenbrier County. At The Greenbrier, a luxury resort nestled in the mountains, the golf course was overrun by rushing waters. The course is scheduled to host a PGA tour event, The Greenbrier Classic, from July 4-10.

"It's like nothing I've seen," owner Jim Justice said in a statement. "But our focus right now isn't on the property, golf course or anything else. We're praying for the people and doing everything we can to get them the help they need."

Professional golfer Bubba Watson was apparently visiting the resort and tweeted photos of entire holes underwater:

Prayers for @The_Greenbrier & surrounding areas. We are without power & it's still raining. Never seen this much rain! #WestVirginiaBeSafe

— bubba watson (@bubbawatson) June 23, 2016

The governor issued a state of emergency on Thursday for 44 counties in the state.

"I have authorized the deployment of up to 150 members of the West Virginia National Guard to assist local emergency responders as we continue to evaluate the situation today," he said in a statement Friday.

Three people died in Kanawha County; the fourth death was an 8-year-old boy in Wheeling, the governor's spokesman said.

The body of Emanual Williams - known as "Manny" - was recovered after he fell into Big Wheeling Creek on Thursday, said Harry Croft, pastor at Marwin Church of the Nazarene at Wheeling.

Croft said the mother told him that she was walking across the creek with her son and daughter because Manny wanted to catch crawdads. One of the children slipped and the mother grabbed both the boy and his sister in the swift current.

"She lost her grip on Manny," the pastor said.

The boy's body was found about a half-mile from where the family lives, Croft said.

Croft said he informed the boy's mother that her son's body had been found.

"I said, 'They found Manny,'" he said. "And I said, 'I can tell you this, he's with Jesus now.' That's the only thing I knew to tell her."

The fifth victim, the 4-year-old boy, was with his grandfather when he fell into the creek, which usually runs about an ankle deep, said Bob Bibbee of the Ravenswood Fire Department, which confirmed the boy was found dead at 11:30 a.m. about a quarter mile from where he fell.

The grandfather jumped in after the boy to try to pull him out but the water was rushing too quickly. Neighbors, alerted by the sound of the family's screams, tried to help save the boy but were also unable to reach him.

The bodies of two other males were found amid debris near White Sulphur Springs in Greenbrier County.

Across the state line, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency in Alleghany County and Covington after severe weather and flooding there.

Three emergency workers were injured during a water rescue in Alleghany County, officials said. One worker fell in the water during a rescue and two others were hurt while rescuing their colleague, Botetourt County Battalion Chief Andrew Moore said Friday.


source: cbsnews

Powerful Tornado Strikes East China

Powerful Tornado Strikes East China; 78 Reportedly Dead

BEIJING — A powerful tornado and hailstorm struck the outskirts of an eastern Chinese city on Thursday, killing at least 78 people and destroying buildings, smashing trees and flipping vehicles on their roofs.

The tornado hit a densely populated area of farms and factories near the city of Yancheng in Jiangsu province, about 800 kilometers (500 miles) south of Beijing.

Nearly 500 of people were injured, 200 of them critically, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Roads were blocked with trees, downed power lines and other debris, while heavy rain and the possibility of further hailstorms and even more tornados was complicating rescue efforts, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

The disaster has been declared a national-level emergency, and on a trip to Uzbekistan, Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered central government bodies to provide all necessary assistance.

Tents and other emergency supplies were already being sent from Beijing, CCTV said.

The network showed people carrying the injured to hospitals, cars and trucks lying upside down, street light poles snapped in half, and steel electricity pylons crumpled and lying on their side. Power and telephone communications were knocked out over a broad area.

"I heard the gales and ran upstairs to shut the windows," Xinhua quoted area resident Xie Litian, 62, as saying. "I had hardly reached the top of the stairs when I heard a boom and saw the entire wall with the windows on it torn away."

The roof then collapsed as he raced downstairs, Xie said. After sheltering in a corner for 20 minutes, he emerged to find the neighborhood transformed into a wasteland. "It was like the end of the world," he said.

Jiangsu is a coastal province north of Shanghai. Yancheng is an ancient city with more than 8 million people.

The Jiangsu provincial fire and rescue service provided no word on casualties but said on its microblog that the storm was accompanied by hail. Crews were dispatched to evacuate workers and secure chemicals and other potentially dangerous items at a sprawling solar panel factory in the Yancheng suburb of Funing, it said. No chemical leaks been reported, CCTV said.

Photos posted online showed a wrecked three-story schoolhouse with large trees strewn on its playing field. Its windows had been blown out and its roof and upper floor torn off, along with those of numerous other buildings.

Bodies were shown lying in the open or buried in rubble. At least one hog farm was hit, its livestock covered in bricks and roofing material.

The reports said the tornado struck at about around 2:30 p.m. and hit Funing and Sheyang counties on the city's outskirts the hardest, with winds of up to 125 kilometers per hour (78 mph).

Tornados occasionally strike southern China during the summer months, but rarely with the scale of death and damage caused by the one on Thursday.

This year, southern and eastern China have experienced weeks of torrential rain and storms that have caused widespread flooding and dozens of casualties.

The southern part of the country is hit every year during the May-July monsoon season, but this rainy season has been particularly wet. Water levels in some major rivers have exceeded those of 1998, when China was hit by disastrous floods that affected 180 million people, according to state media reports.

source: nytimes

Local Emergency Declared in 4,000-Acre Santa Barbara County Wildfire

Local Emergency Declared in 4,000-Acre Santa Barbara County Wildfire.

Santa Barbara County firefighters stand by for structure protection as the Scherpa Fire consumes heavy brush near Highway 101 on July 16, 2016. (Credit: Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

A wildfire that burned thousands of acres in Santa Barbara County prompted the declaration of a local emergency as firefighters continued Friday to face difficult conditions.

More than 1,200 personnel were responding to the fire, which has been burning since it started near Refugio Road, west of Goleta, on Wednesday.

The fire had scorched 4,000 acres and was just 5 percent contained, officials stated at a later-morning news conference Friday. About 270 structures are threatened.

A water treatment plant that serves El Capitan State Beach was burned down overnight, a California State Parks superintendent said. Camping reservations were likely to be canceled, he said.

A declaration of local emergency was made by the county just after 10 a.m., said Supervisor Doreen Farr, who represents the area burning. Agriculture and natural resources have been damaged, she said. Another official said avocados, olives, lemons and cattle-grazing lands were damaged.

The fire comes as California continues into its fifth year of drought.

“It is ominous. We are concerned because the fuels out there are drought-stressed. There’s a lot of tree mortality out there that makes fire behavior worse,” Santa Barbara County Fire Department Chief Eric Peterson said. "The drought is making an already pretty volatile situation not any better."

County Sheriff Bill Brown warned residents to continue to heed mandatory evacuation orders and to be prepared to leave at a moment's notice in areas where evacuation warnings are in effect.

"This is still a very dynamic fire situation and we do not want residents ... to be complacent," Brown said. "Even though conditions may appear to have become better during the day, the reality is things can change ... very rapidly in the evening. We do not want our residents to have a false sense of security."

Officials estimated the fire, is expected to be contained sometime in the afternoon of Wednesday, June 22, the federal InciWeb page for the wildfire stated Friday morning. That statement was no longer on the site by midday.

Information about the fire, which is being referred to as both the Scherpa Fireand Sherpa Fire, is also available on the county's website.

Gusty sundowner winds have continued to fan the flames, pushing them down the mountain toward the coast, during the overnight hours. The winds once again forced the closure of the 101 Freeway through the region Thursday night.

Officials were able to reopen the Freeway about 4 a.m. Friday.

Sundowner winds were expected to continue to be a challenge for firefighters as forecasters have predicted them to return each afternoon through the weekend.

A heat wave was also expected to hit the region over the weekend. Temperatures will rise into the 80s and 90s and humidity will drop, and sundowners are expected to again pick up about 5 p.m., National Weather Service Warning Coordination Meteorologist Eric Boldt said.

The heat wave will peak and humidity will plummet on Monday, Boldt said.

Fire restrictions were in effect in Los Padres National Forest.

Air-quality warnings were in effect for the southern areas of Santa Barbara County through the weekend, unless conditions change, officials said.

Crews have successfully protected residential property in the El Capitan Canyon Area and El Capitan State Beach, according to the Inciweb site.

Mandatory evacuations were in place for areas of Refugio Canyon, Las Flores, Venadito, El Capitan Campground, El Capitan Canyon, El Capitan Ranch and Refugio Campground. About 400 phone lines received emergency evacuation notifications, Sheriff Brown said.

An evacuation warning was issue from El Capitan Canyon to Farren Road.

An evacuation center was set up at the Wake Center, located at 300 North Turnpike Road in Goleta, and Santa Ynez Union High School, according to the InciWeb page. Large animals can be taken to the Earl Warren Show Grounds.

The fire was being managed by the U.S. Forest Service, Santa Barbara County Fire Department and Cal Fire.

The cause of the fire was under investigation.

source: ktla