The historic winter storm that hit Southern California over the weekend is all but over, but many mountain communities are still stranded in feet of snow and are running out of necessities.
Crews have been clearing roads, expediting food and medicine deliveries to the top of the mountain, and serving residents stranded at the bottom since the storm first entered the area on Thursday.
The San Bernardino County Public Works Department announced on Tuesday that they will be implementing new snow removal technology that will show the public which roads have been plowed and which are scheduled to be plowed.
According to the public works department, crews’ priorities are to create access to County-maintained roads from state highways, but they have been having trouble doing so due to the massive amount of snow that the loaders must remove before road graders, snowplows and salt trucks can get through.
Secondary roads will be completed once primary roads are passable, the public works department said.
The most affected areas include Lake Arrowhead and Running Springs, with 5% and 20% of roads in those communities being passable, respectively.
San Bernardino County and the American Red Cross are operating an emergency shelter and resource center for mountain residents unable to get home at Redlands East Valley High School, located at 31000 East Colton Avenue in Redlands, which will be staffed around the clock.
Local and state agencies are asking mountain residents and non-residents alike to avoid the area and allow road crews, first responders and supply vehicles to access the limited number of passable roads.
Several resources have been set up to assist those who need it:
– A call center will provide information Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and can be reached at 909-387-3911
– For road closures: Visit Caltrans online and the San Bernardino County Public Works Department website.
– For the most current school closures:
–Bear Valley Unified School District
–Rim of the World Unified School District
–Hesperia Unified School District
–San Bernardino County Unified School District
– Animal service inquiries: Call San Bernardino County Animal Care and Control at 1-800-472-5609
