Montecito Mudslide Strikes David M. Grokenberger and Family

The realization that houses might simply vanish didn't start to set in until a 30-foot tree trunk barreled by.

Trina Grokenberger stared out the upstairs window of her white Colonial house Tuesday morning, as a river raged through her front yard.

It was 3:58 a.m. "Dave!" she called to her husband. "We can't leave now, right? That's all trees coming down the driveway.

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