Storm report delayed for month

Officials prepared for much milder storms but mountain communities were hit hard

A months-overdue report on San Bernardino County’s response to the winter storms that battered the San Bernardino Mountains earlier this year is now expected in January.

Last February and March, Sanbernardino Mountain communities were hit with a crippling snowstorm, dropping up to 11 feet of snow in some areas. Residents were left stranded for days, causing some to run low on food, medicine and heating supplies. County officials were blasted for poor communication.

According to 2,343 pages of internal San Bernardino County emails obtained through a California Public Records Act request by the Southern California News Group, county officials had been preparing for a much milder storm at first. They then struggled to coordinate with other public agencies and elected officials as they scrambled to get the resources needed to respond to the winter storms, which had paralyzed counties across California.

A report released by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department in September expressed concerns over how the storm response was handled, and questioned whether it should have been handled by the County Administrative Office rather than being under the direction of first responders.

San Bernardino County was scheduled to release its own report on its response to the winter storms in mid-september. That was delayed until late November. And now, it won’t be happening until 2024.

“It will come out in January,” county spokesperson David Wert wrote in an email.

In October, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted warmer, wetter conditions this winter for much of the United States, including a chance for both in San Bernardino County.