The hillside can clearly be seen moving as trees and brush are snapping were coming down along Old Coast Highway in Gaviota on Thursday afternoon.

Longtime resident Gail Giorgi of Nojoqui Falls Ranch captured the video of the slide, which is located between the top of Nojoqui Grade on the northbound side of Highway 101, and the Alisal Road turnoff to go to Nojoqui Falls Park. 

Giorgi can be heard talking with her husband Bill just before the tree starts to slide. 

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By Raiza Giorgi

publisher@santaynezvalleystar.com

Two people were killed and one other person was seriously injured following a multi-vehicle accident on the northbound side of Highway 101 at Nojoqui grade, according to local officials. 

The #2 and #3 lanes of Highway 101 were closed while crews worked to clear the debris out of the road, according to California Highway Patrol, and advised people to steer clear of the area. 

A Honda Element was traveling southbound coming down the grade when it started to hydroplane on the highway and crossed into the northbound traffic. The Honda then crashed into a Jeep Cherokee, according to Mike Eliason, of Santa Barbara County Fire Department.

The driver of the Honda, 58-year-old Porterville woman, was killed as well as the passenger in the Jeep, a 75-year-old Buellton man. A dog that was in the Jeep also was killed upon impact. 

Their names have not been released pending notification of relatives, he added. 

Eliason said the Cherokee driver, a 65-year-old Buellton woman, suffered major injuries and had to be extracted, and was airlifted by Calstar helicopter to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. Their condition is not known as of this time.

The post Accident on Nojoqui grade leaves 2 dead, 1 seriously injured appeared first on Santa Ynez Valley Star.

Seven people were injured in a four-vehicle collision south of Buellton on the Nojoqui Grade Tuesday morning, with one vehicle reportedly involved in a law enforcement pursuit on southbound Highway 101, according to authorities.

As of 8:07 a.m., patients were being transported to Goleta Valley, Santa Ynez and Santa Barbara Cottage Hospitals and both lanes of southbound Highway 101 were blocked at Nojoqui Grade.

Caltrans advised drivers to use Highway 246 and Highway 154 as a detour.

The collision was reported at 7:13 a.m. on the south side of the grade, near Highway 1, according to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.

County Fire spokesman Mike Eliason said the crash was a result of a law enforcement pursuit from Santa Maria, of possible carjacking suspects, but that could not immediately be confirmed.

Four vehicles were involved in the crash, including a California Highway Patrol unit, and seven people were injured, Eliason said.

There were six minor injuries and one moderate injury, including two infants with minor injuries. Eliason did not know whether the CHP officer was injured in the crash.

A California Highway Patrol vehicle was involved in the Tuesday morning collision. (Santa Barbara County Fire Department photo)

The vehicle involved in the law enforcement pursuit crashed into the center divider, said Ray Holguin Navarro, a spokesman for the Santa Barbara Office of Emergency Services.

No further details were available.

Check back with Noozhawk for updates to this story.

— Noozhawk managing editor Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. 

A law enforcement pursuit of a suspect vehicle led to a four-vehicle injury collision on the Nojoqui Grade Tuesday morning, according to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.  (Santa Barbara County Fire Department photo)

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