‘It’s really bad up here.’ Stranded residents in San Bernardino Mountains brace for more snow

Stranded residents of Lake Arrowhead and surrounding communities in the San Bernardino Mountains that were inundated with snow this weekend are hoping authorities can clear blocked roads and escort residents up and down the mountains before another storm strikes late Tuesday.

The highways into the area were closed last week when a storm dropped more than 5 feet of snow over the last several days. Some residents of the mountain communities have been stranded at the bottom of the mountains while other people who rode out the storms in their mountain homes are snowed in.

Maintenance crews with the California Department of Transportation continue to plow and clear the roads throughout the mountain communities and plan to escort residents up the mountain highways starting Tuesday afternoon.

But residents in Lake Arrowhead said local roads are still piled high with snow, making a quick cleanup unlikely.

“It’s really bad up here,” said Brooke Cutler, who is staying at a friend’s house in Lake Arrowhead. “People are really in trouble and are suffering.”

Roads have not been plowed in Cutler’s neighborhood. While she has electricity, food and help to dig out snow-blocked vehicles, she’s worried about other people in the area who are older or who might have a medical emergency.

More snow is forecast to arrive late Tuesday and into Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. The storm could bring 2 to 3 feet of additional snow in areas above the 6,500-foot elevation.

The scenery in the mountains is breathtaking, but the region can also be dangerous for people who are not familiar with the snow, said Lake Arrowhead resident Benji Bakshi, who rents out a property he owns on Airbnb. He offered to waive rebooking fees for incoming guests affected by the storm.

“It’s good for vacationers to come experience the magic,” Bakshi said. “They just need to be prepared for anything and take the weather seriously.”

A local state of emergency was declared by San Bernardino County officials Monday evening, a move that will provide additional funding to respond to the winter storms.

Lake Arrowhead resident Nathalie Granger said she has not heard much from local officials or seen any snow plows in her neighborhood since last week. Her neighbor who works as a private contractor used his own heavy equipment to clear some of the local streets.

“We can now at least make it to other neighbor’s homes by foot a little easier,” Granger said. “We are heavily concerned with how large our county is and the lack of funding our specific district receives for emergencies such as this.”

Officials warned potential visitors that the snow does not present an opportunity for recreation because the roadways are still too dangerous to traverse.

“This is not the time for people to come up and visit the mountain,” Caltrans officials posted on Twitter. “We need the community to understand that many agencies are doing their best efforts during a major storm.”

During a break in the weather, the California Highway Patrol escorted buses up the mountain to retrieve more than 600 students from the Irvine Unified School District who were snowed in at their science camps in Running Springs and Crestline.

The students were scheduled to come home Friday, but road conditions were too dangerous to allow the buses up the mountain roads to retrieve them, Irvine Unified School District spokesperson Annie Brown said.

The elementary and middle school students were brought down the mountain in two trips Monday by certified bus drivers, said Brown.