 It was what some called apocalyptic, although they knew it was coming many people still got swept away. Hundreds of rescuers still searching for the missing. How did this happen? We've got answers from experts and what you should be doing before the next storm hits. That's coming up on this edition of Inside Look. Hi I'm Brian May in the State Operations Center at Cal OES headquarters where they are continuing to coordinate mutual aid efforts as hundreds of rescuers continue search and recovery efforts after the mudslides in the Santa Barbara area. Hundreds of first responders from all across the state continue to search for those still missing. Santa Barbara County officials on Wednesday said this is still very much a search and rescue operation. There are several factors that go into determining how long a victim will be viable and all of those factors including air temperature, soil temperature, weather conditions and the like will be evaluated before we move into the recovery mode. With still so many people missing if you or a loved one are safe you can let your family and friends know that you're safe and well and that can bring a great deal of peace of mind. You can register yourself safe and well on the American Red Cross website at safeandwellcommunityos.org. Here at the State Operations Center they're coordinating over two dozen mutual aid teams from Swiftwater Urban Search and Rescue teams to Fire Engine Strike teams like what you would see at the fires. That's nearly 600 personnel deployed and understand the conditions that these search and rescue teams are in are among the toughest you can imagine. These guys are worn out you know they're doing long hours they're not going to quit until every rescue has been performed but one of the unique things about that mud is the weight and the amount of effort it takes to move through it so it's not you can't just dig a hole in the ground now to find somebody because that's all gonna want to cave in on you. It's just taxing it's it's heavy it's wet it's everything everybody hates it's it's muddy it's wet it's heavy it's long hours it's cold and it just exhausts the cruise out there. In addition to the search and rescue efforts there is also a massive cleanup effort taking place. That river that you see is actually Highway 101 in Santa Barbara County. This portion of 101 closed until early next week. Sean Boyd is in Santa Barbara with more. Yeah we're here in Santa Barbara at the Highway 101 overpass of Olive Mill Road. I don't think you've ever seen Highway 101 that empty before. Maybe that dirty maybe not but let's take a look at the north side of this overpass. This is where the lowest point of a highway is it's where everything is congregated all the debris the mud but not only is the debris removal operation in full swing it's also simultaneously a search and rescue mission. An excavator normally assigned to dig and remove material is now being mission tasked as a people mover. Members of the L.A. County Urban Search and Rescue Team are suiting up and climbing aboard the bucket at the end of this 60 foot arm to comb every inch of this half mile stretch of Highway 101 looking for any signs of life. 72 hours into the massive mudslide that's devastated Montecito and Santa Barbara there's still the possibility and hope that someone will be found alive. Meanwhile, heavy equipment is scooping dumping and scooping again. And again in a concerted cycle with the goal of removing every gallon of mud from Highway 101. There's some sections of the highway that were flooded up to two feet. It's an operation jointly coordinated by Cal OES and led by Caltrans and time is of the essence. This is the lifeline between L.A. and the Central Coast 95,000 vehicles a day use this section. Earlier, Cal OES director Mark Gillarducci along with Santa Barbara's Sheriff, National Guard, the CHP and FEMA got an aerial and ground tour of the path of destruction. Right now is we just we verified the need for search and rescue personnel over the period of the next few days. And we also got a really good sense of the complexity of the debris clearance operation that's going to be required here. Those SAR teams conducted primary searches using specialized drone and helicopter flyovers. And those are now being supplemented by this. The Dozer dump dance will continue day and night with trucks often resembling planes lined up on the runway at L.A. X waiting their turn to move ahead. Monday, January 15th is the goal they've now set to complete this enormous challenge. So we'll be out here 24 seven with our operation to clean up this highway. And then we need to check for damage. Boy, the activity going on around town is incredible. The work that is going in to clean up the mud and get these roads open and safer travel is incredible. And not only do the people who live here and have been negatively impacted by these floods and mudslides love the firefighters. So do we here at Cal OES back to you. Sean thanks search and rescue teams from across the state had searched about 75% of the affected area as of Thursday. The storms had claimed 17 lives and officials fear that number could climb. That's why hundreds are still involved in the search and rescue operation after touring the area by both ground and air. The director of Cal OES left with two key takeaways. People who get warnings to evacuate need to evacuate. There are cases where people did not evacuate did not eat the warnings. They were trapped and unfortunately many people were killed. And the second thing is is that these types of events we don't see them that often here in California. But they they they present a series of challenges in being able to figure out how to get resources into an area that's completely covered in in five, 10, 15 feet of mud. So the question many of you may still have is how did this happen? The wet weather that went through Southern California didn't seem bad enough to cause this much damage and destruction. With more on how this happened. Here's Jonathan Goodell. We are here in the state operation center where coordinated efforts are ongoing in response to the Southern California storms up to five inches of rain fell in Santa Barbara County alone within the last 24 to 48 hours. And to talk more about the storms we brought in Courtney Oberg fell from the National Weather Service and Courtney. This felt like just any other winter storm. What was significant about it? And what was different this time? So it was like a normal winter storm in terms of amounts and coming off the ocean. But what was different this time is we had wildfire burn scars from this fall and winter. And we had a lot of very heavy rainfall that fell in a matter of hours causing the mudslides. So two terms we've heard a lot about in the last two days. Mudslides and debris flow where's some of the differences between the two of them? So a debris flow is basically just a bigger mudslide. So a mudslide you get rain and water moving down the hill bringing mud with it. A debris flow happens after a wildfire and so there's nothing left to soak up the rain on the hillside. So it can bring down trees, boulders, rocks, anything in its path. So so early in winter, what are some of the lessons learned? Maybe we've learned from this event and also moving forward some tips. Well, people who live near burn areas, we advise them to be ready to evacuate in a minute's notice. Do you know where you're going? Do you know what you're taking with you? Do you know how to get in contact with your family and also to heed those instructions from local officials? Should they ask you to evacuate? Absolutely Courtney. Thank you for the advice. The rain has stopped for now, but there's still work to be done in the field and still a lot of work to be done here at the state operation center. Here's why areas that burn and wildfires can face such severe flood risk when it rains so soon afterwards. During a wildfire, the burning plants release gas and that gas permeates into the soil causing the roots to weaken. The gas then cools and solidifies forming a wax like layer at the surface. Unable to permeate the ground, the rain then begins to saturate and weaken the topsoil above that faxy layer. As more rain falls, chunks of topsoil break loose and slide down the slope. Rocks, trees and mudflow freely and can exceed 35 miles an hour left behind a thick water resistant layer that can last for years based on the intensity of the fire. As you heard earlier, even with the increased threat of debris flows and mud slides, some people did not heed evacuation warnings when the heavy rains began. We want to take this time to remind you if you are in a burned area and you're advised to leave, do so. We try and use the strongest possible language we can to make people understand that they need to leave their homes, gather the valuables that they need, paperwork, licenses, things of that nature that are irreplaceable and then get out and recognize that your life and the life of your family are more important than your property. Again, please listen to and follow evacuation orders. If you are safe or a loved one, safe after the mud slides, mark yourself safe on the Red Cross website. And if you'd like more information on a local level, you can go to the county of Santa Barbara's website, that's countyofsb.org. For all of us at Cal OES, I'm Brian May. Thanks for watching. Visit our online newsroom at oesnews.com to learn more about this program and get the latest news and information from our team. Don't miss our next video on your Facebook timeline, like our page and you'll get the latest posts as they happen. If you're an Instagram user, you can see the latest snapshots by following our Cal OES Instagram account. And Twitter users can get instant access to our tweets from across the state by following Cal OES.