A day later Oprah Winfrey came to document the dig-out with a camera crew. In a community filled with celebrities, her estate is one street over.

The bucket brigade has dug out both mansions and modest bungalows. They are also trying to save oak trees from suffocation.

Among the diggers is Carol Bartoli, 73, a chef and caterer, who has outlasted some of the younger volunteers. After the mudslide, “the attitude was if the mud is on your property it’s your responsibility,” she said.

“I just thought, I’m going to help.”

With the rainy season all but over, the group works under bright blue skies. But in the hills above Montecito, boulders are perched precariously as if waiting for their cue to tumble.

“If you live between the mountain and the ocean it’s almost par for the course,” said Josiah Hamilton, a real estate agent and a leader of the bucket brigade. “It’s something you have to be prepared for.”