The Duke and Duchess of Sussex. PA
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex. PA
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex. PA
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex. PA

Prince Harry and Meghan's California town evacuated as storm threatens mudslides


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The town in California where the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have made their home is under evacuation orders as a severe storm threatens to cause mudslides and flash floods.

Montecito was among a number of towns and cities placed under evacuation orders on Monday.

Prince Harry and Meghan's home was the site of their bombshell interview with talk show host Oprah Winfrey in 2021.

The town in Santa Barbara County is about 148km north-west of Los Angeles and is home to other celebrities including the Kardashians.

The area has recorded more than 20cm of rain in the past 12 hours and was forecast to be hit by an additional 20cm into Tuesday, Montecito Fire Chief Kevin Taylor said.

Officials had placed Montecito under a shelter-in-place order on Monday morning but upgraded it to an evacuation order as the weather worsened.

Residents of Los Angeles County were advised to gather their pets, important information and other necessities in the event of an evacuation order.

More than 100,000 customers in the state were without power on Monday, according to power tracker PowerOutage.

The National Weather Service warned of a series of “atmospheric rivers” — storms that dump a significant amount of rainfall that could cause mudslides and flash flooding. Similar storms last week cut off power and inundated streets.

President Joe Biden on Sunday night approved an emergency declaration for the state that would provide federal assistance for disaster relief efforts.

Montecito deadly flood in 2018 — in pictures

California Governor Gavin Newsom said 12 people had died due to the violent weather in the past 10 days and warned the coming storm could become more dangerous.

Monday marked the fifth anniversary of a mudslide that killed 23 people and destroyed more than 100 homes in Montecito.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex moved into their $14.6 million, 18,000-square-foot home in August 2020.

In an interview with ITV to promote his book Spare, Prince Harry said he and his family had left the UK for California “fearing for our lives”, as they left royal life behind.

The couple's Archewell Foundation did not immediately return The National's request for comment.

Montecito real estate — in pictures

Why it pays to compare

A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.

Route 1: bank transfer

The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.

Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount

Total received: €4,670.30 

Route 2: online platform

The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.

Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction

Total received: €4,756

The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.

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Fixtures

Tuesday - 5.15pm: Team Lebanon v Alger Corsaires; 8.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Pharaohs

Wednesday - 5.15pm: Pharaohs v Carthage Eagles; 8.30pm: Alger Corsaires v Abu Dhabi Storms

Thursday - 4.30pm: Team Lebanon v Pharaohs; 7.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Carthage Eagles

Friday - 4.30pm: Pharaohs v Alger Corsaires; 7.30pm: Carthage Eagles v Team Lebanon

Saturday - 4.30pm: Carthage Eagles v Alger Corsaires; 7.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Team Lebanon

MATCH INFO

Euro 2020 qualifier

Fixture: Liechtenstein v Italy, Tuesday, 10.45pm (UAE)

TV: Match is shown on BeIN Sports

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Updated: January 09, 2023, 9:54 PM