Friday, work continued to clear the roads that lead to the San Bernardino mountains where the danger is.
This morning authorities revealed what is being done to help families still stuck in the snow.
One of the priorities right now is reaching affected families and being able to restore services, as well as getting them food and other basic necessities.
For hundreds of residents in the mountainous areas of San Bernardino who have been unable to access their residences due to heavy snowfall in recent days, today has been another day of waiting, although authorities put all the resources they have to make roads accessible again.
“Now that we see the weather improving, we can now provide more help in the mountains,” said Ramón Duran, spokesman for the road patrol.
At a news conference this morning, several agencies in San Bernardino County said the priority is for people who are still unable to leave their homes due to heavy snow accumulation and that since the start of the first storm, they ask for help.
“The most typical calls they make to us are that they need help with food, medicine, or they’re stuck at home, or they have a medical emergency, that’s what we get the most,” said Carlos Canozales, SBCFD. captain.
Lily Vargas and her family live near the Big Bear area, and she told us it took them several hours to remove the ice from her driveway. This morning they were able to go down to town and buy some products and utensils and now they are waiting to be able to go back up, even though they know that the wait will be several hours.
“We’ve been waiting here to go up for 11 a.m. to continue digging the ice, because there’s a lot of weight of ice on the house,” said Lily Vargas, a resident of the area.
At the moment, the roads that lead to the mountainous areas where entire communities live are still closed to traffic, only a few are allowed to pass under the escort of sheriff’s officers. At the moment, vehicles carrying food and basic necessities already have free access.
This incident followed the massive winter storm in Southern California, which caused a rare blizzard warning accompanied by heavy rain.
“We are working with all first responders to try to access communities,” Duran added.
A dozen members of the national guard are helping with logistics to help affected families and help with the works, coordinating the cleanup, it is hoped that with climate change things can get better sooner.
Officials mentioned that if you live in the affected areas and need emergency assistance, you can call 9-1-1, or if you need other assistance or food aid, call 909-387-3911. For road conditions, go to snowinfo.sbcounty.gov