Former US tennis No 1 Jimmy Connors had to be rescued from home by helicopter and chat show queen Oprah Winfrey prayed for her neighbours.
More than 160 people were taken to hospital injured, 24 were still missing, and hundreds were stranded in the celebrity belt north-west of Los Angeles.
Among dramatic rescue stories emerging were one of a baby dug from the sludge and a 14-year-old girl helped from her collapsed home.
The disaster was caused by heavy rain falling on hundreds of square miles of land, parched by last month’s Californian wildfires.
Santa Barbara Sheriff Bill Brown, one of the rescue leaders, said: “It looked a WWI battlefield.
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“It was literally a carpet of mud and debris everywhere with huge boulders, rocks, downed trees, power lines, wrecked cars lots of obstacles.”
Connors, Oprah and Lowe, together with comedian Ellen DeGeneres, have property in Montecito, 100 miles from LA, where most fatalities were reported.
The 65-year-old tennis star, who won Wimbledon twice plus ten other grand slam titles, Tweeted: “Montecito — fires burn- rain comes- mud slides and devastation- evacuated today by helicopter.”
Oprah posted pictures of the mud in her back garden and a video of a helicopter rescuing her neighbours.
“What a day! Praying for our community again in Santa Barbara. Helicopters rescuing my neighbours. Looking for missing persons. 13 lives lost.”
Lowe remarked on the reception his neighour got after making a barnstorming speech attacking Hollywood sex pests at the Golden Globe awards this week.
“Media talking about @OPRAH “maybe” running for President in 3 years,” he said.
“Meanwhile, AS WE SPEAK, her Montecito home’s a staging ground for helicopter rescues. Priorities? Anyone?”
DeGeneres posted an image of the devastation, adding: “This is not a river.
“This is the 101 freeway in my neighbourhood right now. Montecito needs your love and support.”
About 300 people were stranded in the Romera Canyon near Santa Barbara and 50 others were rescued. Thirty miles of the coastal road was closed.
Resident Berkley Johnson told how he and wife Karen rescued a baby from under four feet of debris after fleeing their home in Montecito.
He said: “We heard a little baby crying and firemen came and we dug down and found a little baby .
“We don’t know where it came from. We got it out and got the mud out of its mouth . I’m hoping it is ok . They took it away to the hospital.”
Lauren Cantin, 14, who was rescued in a six-hour operation by firefighters after rescue dogs heard her cries for help, said later:
“I thought I was dead there for a minute.”