Montecito, where Prince Harry and Megan live, was ordered to evacuate amid the powerful storm (Picture: @santabarbarians/Getty Images)
The entire town of Montecito, California, where Prince Harry and Meghan the Duke and Duchess of Sussex reside, has been ordered to evacuate as another massive storm causes flooding.
Monday’s evacuation order in Montecito came on the fifth anniversary of a mudslide that killed 23 people and obliterated more than 100 homes in the town in Santa Barbara County.
Montecito was pounded with an inch of rainfall per hour and downpours were forecast into the night, according to the National Weather Service.
The enclave has been home to Meghan and Harry – who has been promoting the release of his memoir Spare on Tuesday – since 2020.
Oprah Winfrey (right), Prince Harry (left) and Meghan Markle (middle) are all Montecito residents (Picture: Getty Images)
While the whereabouts of the Duke and Duchess were not clear on Monday, their neighbor Ellen DeGeneres posted an Instagram video of herself standing before a raging creek where she and her wife, actor Portia de Rossi, live. The talk show said ‘Montecito is under mandatory evacuation’ but that she and her wife were told to shelter-in-place because their home sits on higher ground.
‘This is crazy!’ says DeGeneres, donning a rain jacket and hoodie. ‘This creek next to our house never flows, ever. It’s probably about nine feet up and is going to go another two feet up.’
DeGeneres continued: ‘We need to be nicer to Mother Nature, cause Mother Nature’s not happy with us.’
Montecito is home to many other celebrities including Oprah Winfrey, who had a wide-ranging sit-down interview with Harry and Meghan in 2021.
Residents on higher ground were told to shelter-in-place as powerful storm slammed into California
The death toll from the powerful storm in California rose to 14, as the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services reported that two more people died from falling trees. One of the victims was in their home and the other was homeless in Sacramento.
Besides Montecito, evacuation orders were issued for Toro Canyon, Padaro Lane and Sycamore Canyon.
California is under a state of emergency and President Joe Biden promised to send emergency aid to the region.
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The California town of Montecito was pounded with an inch of rainfall per hour and downpours were forecast into the night,
