‘Just maddening’: Frustration grows for California mountain residents trapped in feet of snow over a week

Name: California resident drives through walls of snow
Uploaded: 2023-03-06T09:46:44-05:00
Duration: 1 min 22 s
Description: California resident Jenelle Potvin captured her driving through large walls of snow to reach a residence left covered in snow.

Multiple weeks of intense snowstorms have left many Sierra Nevada and Southern California mountain communities struggling to dig themselves out.

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See California buried under staggering amounts of snow

Multiple weeks of intense snowstorms have left many Sierra Nevada and Southern California mountain communities struggling to dig themselves out.

SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, Calif. - While officials in San Bernardino County, California, are reporting that 80% of the roads the county services have been plowed more than a week after a massive storm trapped mountain residents beneath as much as up to 10 feet of snow, many residents are becoming increasingly frustrated.

Janelle Hendrickson, who lives in Running Springs, told FOX 11 Los Angeles she has been trying to get to work off the mountain to earn money to feed her family.

"I was told if I do go down to work, most likely I won't be able to come home for a couple days, up to two weeks," she said. Hendrickson added that roads in the area are "iffy … but they're drivable."

Cindy Powers joins FOX Weather to shed light on the struggles of the residents of Running Springs, California who have been snowed in for 11 days after multiple snow storms have 5-8 feet of snow on the ground.

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California resident fears not being able to return home after leaving for work following historic snow

Cindy Powers joins FOX Weather to shed light on the struggles of the residents of Running Springs, California who have been snowed in for 11 days after multiple snow storms have 5-8 feet of snow on the ground.

RIDICULOUS PHOTOS SHOW AFTERMATH OF 12 FEET OF SNOW IN CALIFORNIA'S SIERRA NEVADA

The county and other organizations have worked to gather supplies for those stuck in the snow, some of whom are running out of essentials. Lake Arrowhead resident Carol Kulvicki said that for her and her neighbors, all of whom are elderly, it's not easy.

UPS delivery driver Juan Hernandez delivers a package to a snow-covered home in Truckee, California on March 03, 2023.

(Josh Edelson for the Washington Post / Getty Images)

"Food drop-offs that they have had are in certain areas, and we're actually 6 miles away from that," she said.

Making things more difficult is the fact that Kulvicki lives on an access road. She said the county told her it's not responsible for plowing her road.

California resident Jenelle Potvin captured her driving through large walls of snow to reach a residence left covered in snow.

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California resident drives through walls of snow

California resident Jenelle Potvin captured her driving through large walls of snow to reach a residence left covered in snow.

During a typical snowstorm, she and her neighbors would chip in together to pay a private contractor to plow.

"But it was too much for the regular guy to get through, and we have been told by the county that we would not be plowed," Kulvicki said. "The only help we are getting are our mountain neighbors. They're our heroes."

NATIONAL GUARD HELPS CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS DIG OUT FROM SEVERAL FEET OF SNOW

Kulvicki said she's also concerned about her adult son Ryan, a stage-four cancer patient. She said that his deck collapsed under the weight of the snow, and his roof is compromised.

"Luckily, with the mountain volunteers, they helicoptered his medication up to him and delivered it to his door," Kulvicki said.

Ryan's fiancée Audrey said there urgently needs to be a new system to get people in and out of the mountain roads.

"You could do blocks of people, make it, ‘It’s only these 40 at this hour, and that's it,'" she said. "But not allowing any up at all is just maddening."