To the rooftops: Staggering snowfall in Calif. mountains
LOS ANGELES — Emergency crews in California scrambled Wednesday to shuttle food and medicine to mountain communities stranded by back-to-back winter storms that have dumped so much snow some residents can barely see out their windows.
In San Bernardino County east of Los Angeles, around-the-clock plowing is underway but it could take more than a week to reach some areas, said Dawn Rowe, chair of the county’s board of supervisors. Residents are dealing with as much as 7 feet of snow, and sheriffs’ authorities have conducted 17 rescue operations to help off-roaders and skiers.
In Crestline, the roof of Goodwin and Sons Market collapsed Wednesday even as safety inspectors were onsite checking up on reported damage. Officials raced to salvage food residents sorely need from its shelves.
Rowe said no one was injured.
The county has set up a hotline for residents dealing with issues like frozen pipes, roof problems and food shortages.
The San Bernardino Mountains are a major tourism and recreation destination but also home to a large year-round population in small cities and communities around lakes and scattered along winding roads. About 80,000 people live either part- or full-time in the snow-covered communities affected, said David Wert, a county spokesman.
Residents have been grappling with so much snow they’re running out of space to put it.
Grocery shelves were bare of some items as many residents made their way on foot to stores hoping to stock up on necessities. Cars remained buried under snow and roads closed to traffic.
Another dumping of heavy snow in areas around Portland, Oregon, forced some school districts to close or hold remote classes Wednesday.
Over the past week, historic snowfall, ice and cold temperatures brought much of Portland, Oregon, to a standstill, trapping drivers on roads and highways, paralyzing government services and leading to at least two suspected hypothermia deaths.
While California grappled with wintry weather, forecasters warned a powerful new weather system will affect most of the lower 48 states this week. Six to 12 inches of snow could eventually fall in upstate New York, Vermont and New Hampshire, meteorologist David Roth said.
The next, larger weather system was expected to spread across much of the country Thursday, and areas such as the lower Mississippi Valley and Tennessee Valley could see heavy rain, thunderstorms and some flash flooding.
Recent storms across the country have delayed travel, shuttered schools and overwhelmed crews trying to dig out of the snow and repair downed power lines. More than 60,000 customers were without power Wednesday in Michigan, which is still recovering from ice storms, and about 105,000 customers were in the dark in California, according to Poweroutage.us.