High tides nearly flooded 101 freeway at Carpinteria Play

In a story from last week that we managed to overlook, water levels along the 101 freeway were so high last week they were almost as high as the freeway at Carpinteria.

That's a stretch of freeway between Ventura and Santa Barbara, just 50 miles west of Malibu.

KEYT television reports the rising tides for three days stunned Carpinteria residents, who suddenly had water filling their streets. The ocean pushed water into a saltwater marsh west of the city, threatening the freeway, and then it ran down into city streets.

Residents stacked sandbags to protect their houses for the first time ever.

The section of 101 freeway that was almost drowned is the only link between L.A. and Santa Barbara, and the only link between L.A. and San Francisco other than the 5 freeway over the Grapevine.