Montecito recovery crews breathe sigh of relief as rain passes by

MONTECITO, Calif. (KABC) -- Authorities in Montecito believe they have dodged a bullet when it comes to the potential for rain Friday amid the ongoing cleanup of the deadly mudslides that struck the area.

Officials are not expecting any significant rainfall. That is allowing crews to search and also rebuild the community. Crews say they are starting to make some real progress.

The scale of the recovery effort in Montecito is large, with whole neighborhoods still swamped with mud and debris.

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In this Jan. 15, 2018 image, the 101 Fwy is seen under water and mud as clean-up crews work to clear roads in Montecito. (Mike Eliason/Santa Barbara County Fire Department via AP)

Mike Eliason/Santa Barbara County Fire Department via AP

A cold, wet storm is passing by the disaster zone. More rain would have been troublesome for the crews cleaning up the deadly mess, hampering their efforts to find the three victims who remain missing.

The avoidance of the rain is good news for Caltrans, too. Work on reopening the 101 Freeway is accelerating, with plans to have it up and running by Monday.

Meanwhile, workers are busy installing guardrails and scraping the freeway clean.