Family Describes Horror of Being Hit by Mudslide

Carmelo and Teresa Sarabia, still recovering from cuts and bruises suffered in a deadly mudslide, cried Thursday as they told of their family’s survival and the rescue of their 9-month-old baby, who was yanked from her mother’s arms and swept away.

The Sarabias, whose home in Laguna Canyon was destroyed in the slide Monday night, said they were amazed that everyone in the family, including an older son and daughter, survived. Two neighbors died in the disaster.

The family--including Carmelo, 40, Teresa, 43, Efrain, 20, Ivvone, 19, and baby Tiffany--were watching television as the storm intensified and water cascaded down the hillside beside their apartment. Suddenly, at 11:45 p.m., the lights went out.

“I heard an explosion, like the mountain was moving, and I took the baby from the crib,” Teresa said. She was clutching Tiffany to her chest with one hand and holding Carmelo’s hand with the other when a wall of mud crashed through the apartment.

“I covered Tiffany so the debris and mud would hit me,” Teresa Sarabia said. “ . . . I had her in my arm, but then I went rolling down with her and she was pulled away from me. . . .

“My mouth was full of mud and I was cleaning it out so I could yell for help for my baby. But I couldn’t scream.”

The parents--trapped in mud a few feet from each other--were covered by lumber and debris, unable to go after the child.

“The baby was crying. I could hear her, but I couldn’t see her,” said Carmelo Sarabia. “ . . . I kept yelling for someone to help us.”

Then Tiffany’s crying stopped, and both parents feared the worst.

A short time later, Gary Segraves, who was visiting the neighborhood, plucked what he thought was a ball of mud from a watery flow and was surprised to see that it was a baby. The infant was passed to firefighters, who tended to her before she was sent to a local hospital.

Efrain and Ivvone, who were trapped in the apartment’s bathroom, said they thought everyone else was dead.

On Thursday, Tiffany--reunited with her family--looked fine except for a scratch on the cheek and what her mother described as a diminished appetite and a lack of interest in playing.

Teresa Sarabias praised Segraves: “My baby would’ve died, had it not been for him.”