Residents of California’s mountain communities were finally seeing some roads cleared on Monday, but voiced their frustration after spending more than ten days trapped in the snow — while Gov. Gavin Newsom was away.
Newsom (D) disappeared to Baja California without explanation, shortly after declaring a state of emergency last week — a week after blizzards had swept the state, and thousands of residents were stranded in snowdrifts.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom looks on during a visit the Antioch Water Treatment Plant on August 11, 2022 in Antioch, California. California Gov. Gavin Newsom visited a desalination plant that is under construction at the Antioch Water Treatment Plant where he announced water supply actions that the state is taking to adapt to hotter, drier conditions caused by climate change. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Key highways into the San Bernardino mountains were finally opened on Monday. Previously, residents were only allowed to travel with an official escort, and were not allowed to return once they left their communities.
Those trapped by the storm — which dumped over 100 inches of snow on communities like Crestline and Lake Arrowhead, and forced Northern California ski resorts to close as well — cheered the first arriving snowplows.
But there was also plenty of frustration, as many residents had been running out of food, fuel, and medicine. The Los Angeles Times reported:
As crews hustled to clear snow-covered roads in the San Bernardino Mountains, many residents remained stranded Monday, frustrated at being cut off for more than 10 days and running low on food and medicine.
The major highways to the mountains were reopened Monday afternoon to residents with proof of residency, the California Highway Patrol announced. They advised residents heading back home to have a contingency plan in case their houses were inaccessible because of the heavy snow.
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The slow pace of clearing roads has been a source of growing anger in mountain communities. Making matters worse, residents have endured gas leaks, fires and roof cave-ins because of the snow, and authorities have struggled to provide aid.
Newsom never explained why he left the state. Instead, he went right back to attacking conservatives, tweeting Monday that the state would no longer do business with the Walgreens pharmacy chain, which stopped selling abortion pills in states that had outlawed them.
While away, Newsom continued trolling conservative states over social issues, even as residents of mountain communities remained stuck, and scared.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.