The San Bernardino County mountains have hopefully seen an end to the nearly week-long series of snowstorms that dumped more than nine feet of snow on communities stretching from Mt. Baldy to the eastern edge of the Big Bear Valley.
The National Weather Service forecasts that our county should not see snow fall again for at least another week after tonight, which would give the County, state, and special district crews an opportunity to clear out much of the snow that has trapped many mountain residents in their homes.
“We hear you, we know you are concerned,” said Board of Supervisors Chair Dawn Rowe during a press conference this morning convened by the County. “We know we have stranded residents. It is our number one priority to get to those residents and get them the food, medicine, and access they need.”
“Plowing of the roads is continuing 24-7,” said Rowe, whose Third District includes most of the affected communities. “We have thrown all of our assets at this, and we have requested additional assets from our state partners and anyone else who can provide them.”
In the meantime, “we need our residents to take care of each other,” Rowe added.
Sheriff Shannon Dicus, County Fire Chief Dan Munsey, County Public Works Director Brendon Biggs, and Caltrans District 8 Deputy Director of Maintenance Jim Rogers joined Chair Rowe and County Chief Executive Officer Leonard Hernandez in providing valuable updates to the community via the news media. The entire press conference can be viewed on the County’s YouTube channel.
Later in the day, the Board of Supervisors conducted an emergency meeting to create a $10 million emergency funding stream to support efforts by County departments to clear snow from mountain roads. County CEO Hernandez also pledged to secure any additional resources needed to support the County’s efforts.
“We will rent and lease any vehicles we can acquire, and we are going after all of the reimbursements we can,” Hernandez told the Board.
In other developments related to the storm response:
- Caltrans has suspended the escorting of residents on highways leading to mountain communities from the San Bernardino valley.
- County Public Works is close to releasing a mapping tool that will show the progress of road-clearing efforts and which roads will be cleared next.
- Southern California Edison is working diligently to restore power to the approximately 1,200 customers currently enduring outages.
- County Fire, the Sheriff’s Department, California Highway Patrol, County Public Works, Caltrans, Southern California Edison, and Southern California Gas have entered into a unified command structure to better-coordinate the response to the emergency.
- The County’s call center has shifted to 24-hour operations. Those in need can call 909-387-3911 for information and assistance. For urgent medical issues, residents should dial 911. Emergency phone services are operational in all mountain areas. County Fire is utilizing special snow vehicles to access snowed-in patients in medical need.
The San Bernardino County Office of Emergency Services is operating 24/7 to coordinate food, fuel, supplies and services up to mountain residents.
Mountain residents who may have snow-damaged homes are able to take refuge at the newly opened shelter at the Rim of the World High School, located at 27400 State Highway 18, in Lake Arrowhead. Mountain residents who have not been able to get back up the mountain can stay at the Redlands East Valley High School shelter, located at 31000 E. Colton Ave. in Redlands. Medical consultations are available at Rim of the World and at Redlands East Valley via phone.
At present, four persons are being served at each shelter.
Seniors can call the Department of Aging and Adult Services hotline for assistance at 877-565-2020.
To speak to someone about behavioral health services, please call the San Bernardino County Department of Behavioral Health 24/7 phone line at 888-743-1478.
For road condition information:
|
