“We understand that people are not happy about being trapped in their homes,” said David Wert, spokesman for San Bernardino County. “This was really unavoidable. When you have 10 feet of snow, there is no way to make it disappear instantly.”
The weather took a turn for the worse in late February as an arctic air mass plunged down the West Coast, prompting a rare blizzard warning. In an extremely unusual storm, staggering amounts of snow fell in the San Bernardino and neighboring San Gabriel mountains, where thousands of people live in or visit high-elevation communities reached by winding, steep highways.
Both ranges routinely receive winter snowfall, but what looked like the foundation for epic downhill ski days instead became a nightmare for Compton and her family.
She last spoke with Avenatti, her great aunt, on Feb. 28 when she warned relatives not to visit because of dangerous road conditions. During their last conversation, Avenatti was her usual spry self and answered the phone in good spirits.
“Winter wonderland!” Compton remembers Avenatti saying.
The power went out once during their call, and it took Compton about 20 minutes to get her great aunt back on the phone. The next day, Compton checked outages in Avenatti’s neighborhood and saw that her great aunt, who lived alone, had most likely lost power again.
Her body was discovered Monday, sitting next to the fireplace.
“If she had power and wasn’t trapped in the house, I 99.99% believe she would still be here today,” Compton said. “At least she lived a great life and passed away in her happy place.”
The extreme weather prompted Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare emergencies in 13 of California’s 58 counties, beginning March 1. Since then, a multiagency response team has deployed some 800 personnel to remove more than 7.2 million cubic yards of snow off state highways in San Bernardino County, or enough to fill 2,270 Olympic-size swimming pools, according to the state’s office of…
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