‘There is a level of panic setting in’: Snow traps residents, vacationers in Lake Arrowhead

So much snow has hit Lake Arrowhead in the last several days that resident Lisa Griggs couldn’t recognize the highway outside her door when she walked to get groceries.

She’s one of the lucky ones in the San Bernardino Mountain town.

Five feet of snow in the last five days has blanketed the Lake Arrowhead area, according to the National Weather Service. The conditions have also trapped people in their homes and vacation rentals, and people are rationing food and other supplies as they wait for more information from local officials.

To make matters worse, more snow is on the way.

The Lake Arrowhead area could expect 1 to 2 feet of snow starting Tuesday evening and into Wednesday, said meteorologist Dan Gregoria with the National Weather Service in San Diego.

“I’m not too anxious, but I’m getting anxious for other people,” Griggs said of the snowy conditions.

Griggs, who lives in the Blue Jay community, said a resident who drove by her home on Monday morning told her he thought that his neighbor was dead. Griggs flagged down a firefighter who was driving by and gave him the address.

“What else can I do at this point?” she said.

Griggs said she’s grateful to still have electricity. She worries about older residents or people on vacation who didn’t bring enough food.

Snow covers a 76 gas station in Lake Arrowhead on Sunday. A winter storm blanketed the area in snow and more is on the way.

(Lisa Griggs)

On Sunday, when there was a break in the snow, Griggs went to get herself groceries. She made the two-mile round trip on Highway 189 to her local Stater Bros. store on foot.

“You wouldn’t believe it was the same highway,” Griggs said. “It’s [now] a one-lane highway. It’s very narrow, and it’s not plowed at all. So, people are getting stuck in their [cars]. There are cars just being abandoned because you know nobody can get through.”

State Route 18 heading into Lake Arrowhead has been closed since Friday due to the weather, according to Caltrans. It’s unclear when the highway will reopen.

Tractor-trailers bringing groceries and other supplies made the trip up Highway 18 over the weekend to Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear Lake with assistance from emergency vehicles, Caltrans said.

The snow line in Lake Arrowhead will stay low, at around 3,500 to 4,000 feet, on Tuesday but could dip even lower to around 2,500 feet toward the tail end of the storm on Wednesday.

“Many people in their lifetime never experienced this type of snowfall,” Gregoria said.

Jeanette Davis is trying to make her way home to Lake Arrowhead.

She’s stranded in Huntington Beach because the main routes to her home are closed.

In the meantime, Davis is renting out a vacation property she owns in Lake Arrowhead to out-of-town guests. They only planned to stay for two days, Davis said, but it’s unclear when the roads will be cleared for them to be able to leave.

Davis knew last week that the forecast called for snow, but she expected the roads to be plowed and cleared by Monday. Neighbors back home told her that her street is still closed and still covered in snow.

“I think the county and the state has dropped the ball on this situation,” Davis said.

Lake Arrowhead resident Nathalie Granger is doing what she can to help her neighbors.

The 33-year-old said she’s shared baby wipes, milk and dog food. It’s been a struggle to drop off the supplies because of the high snow mounds surrounding her home, Granger said.

She said the snow hasn’t been plowed in her neighborhood since last week.

“There is a level of panic … setting in,” Granger said.

While she has electricity, Granger doesn’t know what to expect with the next storm. She plans to dig out her generator and fuel she has in a camping trailer, in case she loses power.

“It sounds silly, but we’re going to be rationing our fuel between ourselves and two other neighbors,” she said.

On top of all that, she’s concerned about the vacationers stranded in Lake Arrowhead with limited resources. She worries that people from other parts of California are going to see the snow and want to visit the area.

“I just want everybody to be safe,” she said. “Let’s look at this a little bit more responsibly and respectively, as I don’t want anything bad to happen to anyone.”