'Help Us!' Record Snows in CA Create a Real Climate Crisis, Extreme Weather Kills 13 Across US
It's a historic winter for the mountain communities of California with record snows showing no signs of letting up. Thousands were without power over the weekend, as blizzard conditions and near zero visibility caused accidents along I-80.
In the mountain town of Crestline, residents wrote "Help Us" in the snow while others waited in line to buy supplies at the town's grocery store.
Another 5 feet of snow is possible in the Sierra Nevada mountains this week, adding to the 46 feet of snow the area already received this season.
Many residents in San Bernardino County are still stranded under as much as 12 feet of snow.
Looking at his home buried in snow, Justin Leonard said, "It's really tough. I have a 12-year-old and my mother-in-law in the house."
San Bernardino County was also forecast to see wind gusts of up to 55 miles per hour, reducing visibility and hampering efforts to clear the snow.
Sarah and Jason Brooks walked an hour and twenty minutes from their home to get food. "The snow is so high that you can get on the banks and I can lift my pole up and actually touch the powerlines," they said.
In Big Bear, the roads in are still blocked, cutting off the community from supplies. Nina Clark a grocery store cashier in Big Bear said, "It feels like it is the end of the world or something."
Store shelves are starting to empty and some gas stations are closed.
The San Bernardino mountains have seen 12 feet of snow from back-to-back storms.
Resident John Irons said trees around his home were snapping in two from the weight of the snow. "Every time a tree fell, it was like a gunshot went off. And then just a big old crash. And snow everywhere," Irons said.
The National Guard was working to rescue trapped families.
Across the nation, severe weather is causing more problems. People in at least 37 states are already feeling the effects of a fierce winter storm that brought heavy snow, damaging wind, and tornadoes.
Almost half a million Americans from Kentucky to Michigan were in the dark Sunday after a massive front dumped heavy snow across much of the nation's northern tier and slammed parts of the South with powerful thunderstorms, tornadoes, and wind gusts up to 70 miles per hour.
At least 13 people died, five in Kentucky alone.
Video captured the moment hurricane-force wind gusts brought down a White Castle sign in Bowling Green, Kentucky, bending it in half before it crashed onto a car.
For parts of the eastern United States, from New England down to West Virginia, winter for some has been a no-show. But that could end as this storm moves east.
