Posted on 01/08/2005 6:27:11 PM PST by DeaconBenjamin
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- As many as 200 vehicles got stuck in deep snow early Saturday in the San Bernardino Mountains as the latest in a series of storms struck California. The storms quickly moved eastward, closing all three major highways over the Sierra Nevada.
Up to 10 feet was expected over the weekend at the Sierra's higher elevations, according to the National Weather Service.
Snow piled up 3 to 4 feet deep along a 15-mile stretch of highway between the Snow Valley ski resort and Big Bear dam, said Tracey Martinez, a spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County fire department.
``People were panicking and calling 911 on their cell phones,'' Martinez said. ``It's going to take us awhile to get all the folks out of there.''
No injuries were reported as rescue crews used tracked vehicles to pick up the snowbound motorists in the mountains about 90 miles east of Los Angeles.
Up to 15 inches of snow were reported in parts of Colorado's San Juan Mountains, as well, adding to the 19 inches dumped earlier this week by storms. The new snow delighted skiers, but made driving treacherous, with winds gusting near 60 mph on snowpacked, icy roads above 8,000 feet.
In the East, heavy rain and snow that fell earlier in the week caused flooding along the Ohio River that was chasing some residents out of their homes in communities in West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. Meteorologists predicted the river would reach its highest level in eight years at Louisville, Ky. The stormy weather had caused widespread outages in parts of Ohio, and utilities said about 100,000 homes and businesses remained without electricity on Saturday.
Some neighborhoods below California's San Bernardino Mountains recorded more than a half-inch of rain every hour, and homeowners rushed to pile sandbags.
``I used to love the rain,'' said Dallas Branscone of San Bernardino County's Devore area. ``Now, I dread all these storms.''
Elsewhere in California, up to 4 1/2 feet of snow fell overnight in the Sierra Nevada around Lake Tahoe, ski areas reported Saturday. That came on top of as much as 9 feet of snow in the Sierra and 4 feet in Reno on Dec. 30.
Interstate 80, which crosses the Sierra and links Sacramento, Calif., to the Reno-Tahoe, Nev., area, closed Saturday as did two other major Sierra highways -- U.S. 50 over Echo Summit and Highway 88 over Carson Pass.
The storm also delayed Amtrak passengers over the Sierra and caused dozens of cancellations and delays at Reno-Tahoe International Airport.
The wild weather knocked out power for thousands of homes and businesses and blocked mountain roads. One person died in a sailboat smashed by wind and waves, two resort workers in the Sierra were found dead in a snow-covered car and two other people were killed in a car accident on slippery roads in Glendale.
Homeowners were especially concerned in San Bernardino County foothill towns that were devastated by wildfires and mudslides in 2003.
``You can only do so much,'' said Thom Master of Devore. ``If 2 feet of mud comes, these little sandbags aren't going to do much.''
In southern Colorado, avalanche warnings were issued Saturday for the San Juan and La Plata mountains. Slides were reported across U.S. 550 Saturday morning, but no one was trapped.
Along the Ohio River, hundreds of Ohio and West Virginia residents had evacuated their homes and stacked sandbags.
The river was nearly 4 feet above flood stage and still rising Saturday morning at Point Pleasant, W.Va., and was about 7 feet above flood stage but beginning to recede at Marietta, Ohio, the National Weather Service said. Downstream, it was expected to crest Tuesday at slightly more than 5 feet above at Cincinnati, the weather service said.
Water was 2 to 4 feet deep Saturday in the streets of downtown Marietta, closing businesses.
Louisville had already closed part of its River Road and installed two of its flood gates, and the Caesars Indiana riverboat casino in Harrison County, Ind., was shut down. The expected 28-foot crest at Louisville, 5 feet over flood stage, would be the highest since March 1997.
In north-central Indiana, some 100,000 homes and businesses remained without power Saturday, three days after a paralyzing ice storm.
This should be interesting. The enviros have been trying to sell the idea that the colorado river land reclamation system was failing. The spring runoff should start to put a dent into the low levels in the system.
The ironic thing is that the "enviros" are pretty much clueless about the environment. Their thing is politics.
Shades of the Donner Party.
Essentially, they are watermelons; green on the outside but red on the inside.
Why?
Don't these people realize that they are in the mountains and should be prepared in case of weather change?
I mean, Johnny Mountain is still on the air in L.A. isn't he? Are they that clueless that if they're traveling in the San Bernadino Mountains this time of year, it could *possibly snow?*
Sheesh. I don't feel sorry for these people.
>>Don't these people realize that they are in the mountains and should be prepared in case of weather change?
I used to live up there in Lake Arrowhead. It snowed, and everybody who lives there is aware. But it sounded like it was an extremly heavy snow, way more than usual.
I remember driving up the mountain once in the snow.. beautiful, but scary.
You can blame the people and their parents. I could bet those 200 cars became stuck, and no help could access for a week, Most would be frozen to death. I travel just from Santa cruz to Santa Clara and go through the "little mountains" but i don't every underestimate nature.
I always carry something i can burn (knife, lighter, several days of water, crackers, jacket, boots, 2 flashlights (high quality), hell i even have 6 quarts of oil back there :D People these days feel just because they have new cars, paved roads, they can go anywhere. Taking your chances with nature is like playing with fire. You can have a SUV, but what happens when the roads are closed? You need to take care of yourself because sometimes, there is no one else but yourself to help because even those around you can't help themselves. :)
"...and 4 feet in Reno on Dec. 30."
My brother in law, says this is the most snow he's seen, in his 30 years up there.
Global warming is no doubt the underlying climatic cause, of the cold stormy weather we've been getting.
SoCal is as cold as I can remember.
Can I be truthful here?
I am intimately familiar with the San Bernardino Mountains having lived there, owned property there etc.
That being said, I don't feel sorry for them either, as many of them are clueless, ignorant, illegal aliens. Yup, they pile in the car or van with 8 other people, drive up from San Berdo, they have no plan, no supplies, and come completely unprepared, no chains etc, no 4 wheel drive, taking no precautions. They drive up to where they can't drive anymore, pull over, sometimes in front of peoples private property, blocking their driveways, and all pile out right on the side of the highway, and start playing in the snow like they are at a campground or wide open area.
Many times they park right under no parking signs and empty out. When they leave, many of them leave their trash right where they dropped it.
This morning my hubby and I went up to the San Bernardino mountains to get the mail from our P.O. Box. A two hour one way trip., and we went up there to see if we could get down the road to our ranch. The snow plows had made a huge snow berm that made the trip down our unpaved dirt road impossible. We looked at it, sighed and drove another two hours back home.
Not really. It's 57 degrees straight up at 7:00 p.m. on the coastal plain in my area of So. Cal. Up in the mountains is a much different story.
When I was in college (and much younger, lol) I would drive from Chatsworth in the San Fernando Valley every Thursday to Goldmine Ski Resort. 2.5 hours, 138 miles from my driveway to the Goldmine parking lot.
But even I carried chains, because up there, *you just never know...*
Did I ever get caught up there? Oh you bet. Once, during the 82-83 El Nino season. Started out to be the best sunny day, it ended dumping about a foot and a half within a couple of hours by the time we were leaving Walden's Pond (remember that place?) Fortunately, after waiting it out a bit, the roads were clear enough to get home the back way.
Did I ever forget my chains after that? No way. It still amazed me, several years later, that people were paying some of the (enterprising) locals to put their chains on their vehicles, if they had them that is :)
Do you ever address any topic that doesn't end up being "I hate Mexicans"?
>> Walden's Pond
Yes I remember ..
I also had chains in my car....
This is actually a perverse effect of global warming when you factor in Hegelian dialectics.
I was sitting here thinking the same thing. To go in the SB Mountains this time of year without chains is flat out stupidity. Any storm system can dump a lot of snow in those mountains. Used to live in Upper Yucaipa and people were stranded every year from abject stupidity in the mountains.
Did you read my post? Are you familier with this area? If so, lets hear what you have to say. Otherwise, shaaaaaadup.
Are those the mountain roads that pass through Boulder Creek? I haven't been through there since I was just a little-FReep! What's it like now?
You need to take care of yourself because sometimes, there is no one else but yourself to help because even those around you can't help themselves. :)
Cannot be over emphasized. We have the similar problem here out in the desert. So many people feel invincible in their cars. If something breaks down, ect...they panic, because they don't prepare in those "just in case" situations.
A few years ago here, the cost was high. Because some moron ran out of gas, lost her way, and didn't "dress" properly for our mountains (she was wearing sandals), she panicked. (she also had a cell phone). So, she lit a fire (during the heart of our drought season) to catch the attention of a helicopter passing by who was assessing another fire. The fire she lit became one of the largest, raging, and most costly forest fires in the history of Arizona.
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