Kevin Costner’s California community ripped apart by mudslides

Kevin Costner and his family are still suffering from the devastating effects of the fatal mudslides that have wreaked havoc in their Santa Barbara, California community.
The natural disaster claimed the lives of at least 20 people in the region last week (beg08Jan18), just under a month after the Thomas Fire and 28 other blazes burned through hundreds of thousands of acres in the county and surrounding areas in December.
Following the fires, Santa Barbara residents were unprepared for the heavy rain that caused the severe mudslides, with Costner revealing he, his wife Christine Baumgartner, and their three kids are still struggling to pick up the pieces amid the wreckage.
“Our community has been split in two and there’s been a loss of life,” he tells U.S. news show Extra. “Everybody in my house has survived. We had to evacuate, we had to pick and choose (what to take with us), my children still haven’t been back to school; it’s not likely they are going back to school right now. In our community, there is no sixth degree of separation, it’s about maybe a house over from you. We’re lucky – other people haven’t been so lucky.”
The mudslides have destroyed 65 houses and damaged hundreds of other properties, leaving many people in the area homeless, but Kevin is doing his best to provide aid to his neighbours by opening up the doors to his home for a temporary stay until they can get back on their feet.
“Other people came to live with us,” he shares.
Costner, 62, will also help to raise money for mudslide and fire victims by co-headlining a benefit concert in Ventura on 3 February (18) with his band Modern West.
“It’s a community just trying to stand with itself,” he says of the upcoming event. “Six or seven bands are gonna play. I’m gonna play and probably say a few words at some point.”
Costner isn’t the only celebrity to be affected by the mudslides – Jeff Bridges, Oprah Winfrey, and Ellen DeGeneres have also been battling the natural disaster.