Californian mudslide: Schwarzenegger praised the rescuers

Throughout Southern &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/comp/2002/09/24/37134.html ' target=_blank>California, five days of record-setting rainfall gave way to clear skies and typically mild temperatures. But it could be weeks before the region recovers from the storm that killed at least 28 people.

The devastation was most stunning in La Conchita, a free-spirited town with about 260 residents sandwiched between the &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/main/2001/02/08/2405.html ' target=_blank>Pacific Ocean and the hills south of Santa Barbara. Fifteen homes were destroyed and 16 were damaged.

Dozens of residents attended a morning meeting with county officials to get information on those still missing and word about when they might be allowed to return to their homes, informs Mercury News.

Jimmie Wallet moved to this oceanside town with his wife and four daughters in search of an easier life. On Wednesday, he identified the bodies of all but one child - pulled from the tangle of homes smashed by tons of liquid earth that rumbled down from the bluff above.

No one lost more than Wallet in the mudslide, which has killed at least 10 people. And, driven by the frantic hope of finding his family, no one fought more to claw through the debris and help pull out survivors.

Eventually he had to stop digging and waited, trying to be optimistic, sleep deprived and taking drags from a cigarette as friends stopped by to embrace him, reports AzCentral News.