Mountain volunteers were a lifeline in a world buried in snow. And they're not done
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — The snow is melting in the San Bernardino Mountains after eight to 12 feet of powder fell in back-to-back winter storms last month.
Damaged homes dot the landscape, and the storms will have an economic ripple effect on the mountain communities that will continue long after the snow is gone, according to mutual aid groups, which point out that — weeks after the worst weather — people are still trying to refill depleted pantries and remain in need of other resources.
San Bernardino County plans to wind down a food distribution center in the hard-hit Crestline community by the end of the month, and the Red Cross will close its shelters for people displaced by the storms on a similar schedule.
Established mutual aid groups and citizen volunteer groups that formed during the storms believe the area's long-term recovery needs to involve community-led efforts, much like those driven by residents who banded together when county and state agencies were slow to respond amid the crisis.
"You don't just get your road plowed and then you get your car out and then things are OK. There's so many things you have to deal with afterward," said Dawn Wisner Johnson, a volunteer with the grassroots organization Operation Mountain Strong.
Material goods can be replaced, Johnson said, but
