San Bernardino County supervisors on Dec. 29 of last year unanimously ratified a local emergency declarationfollowing a powerful holiday storm that brought flooding, debris flows and widespread outages to mountain and desert communities.
County Chief Executive Officer Luther Snoke, speaking as the county’s director of emergency services, told the board that the storm system that arrived the evening of Dec. 23 brought “intense rainfall and damaging winds” that caused flooding and utility disruptions across the county.
The hardest-hit areas included Wrightwood, Lytle Creek, Hesperia, Phelan, Piñon Hills and Mount Baldy, Snoke said.
He reported that “staggering nine inches of rain” fell in Summit Valley near the Cajon Pass within a 24-hour period.
Snoke said the county activated its Emergency Operations Center at Level Two and established a multi-agency incident command post at Fire Station 14 in Wrightwood.
He asked the board to ratify the local emergency proclamation he signed on Dec. 25.
“This action underscores the severity of current conditions and strengthens the coordination with state partners,” Snoke said.
He acknowledged the difficult timing of the storm, which struck during the Christmas holiday.
“This was a tough time for many,” Snoke said, noting that families faced evacuations, road closures and prolongedoutages during a season when many people were trying to be together.
Although the county has moved from immediate response into recovery, Snoke said officials are still watching the weather closely.
“We’re not out of the woods, yet,” he said, referring to another storm forecast later in the week.
Snoke reported that power in Wrightwood was restored three days earlier than anticipated and that water service in Lytle Creek had been restored after a temporary boil-water notice.
From the onset of the storm, he said, the county focused on protecting lives by issuing evacuation warnings and orders,conducting door-to-door welfare checks and coordinating rescues, including swift-water rescues and vehicle extractions.
On Christmas Eve alone, more than 120 county fire personnel were deployed, along with public works, road and flood-control crews.
Environmental health, behavioral health and animal care teams were also activated.
Snoke highlighted one case in which Arrowhead Regional Medical Center worked with a vendor and county fire officials to deliver critical medical equipment to a resident who could not be reached because of storm damage.
He called it “a beautiful thing” to see agencies come together around an urgent life-safety need.
He thanked Emergency Services Director Crisanta Gonzalez, County Fire Chief Dan Munsey, Sheriff Shannon Dicus,Public Works Director Noel Castillo, ARMC CEO Andrew Goldfrach and Public Health Director Joshua Dugas, along with state partners including California Governor’s Operations of Emergency Services (Cal OES), Caltrans and the California Highway Patrol.
On Christmas Eve, Snoke said, a coordination call included 208 people who stepped away from their families to focus on storm response.
“People across departments and agencies, working beyond their normal lanes to support residents and restore services,” he said.
Supervisor Col. Paul Cook (Ret.), whose district includes Wrightwood and other mountain communities, said the stormshowed how important emergency workers and neighbors are in isolated areas.
“Sometimes I think we take everybody that works for us, particularly those in emergency services, for granted,” Cook said. “And then you have something like this.”
He thanked county fire, the sheriff’s department, public works, Cal Fire, Caltrans and nonprofit partners including theRed Cross and World Central Kitchen, saying Wrightwood “got hit really, really bad.”
Cook also spoke about the role of residents helping one another in small mountain towns.
“When you see something like this in the middle of a disaster, they all get together, and boom, they’re going to fight the common enemy,” he said.
Vice Chair Joe Baca Jr. said he recently met a couple from Lytle Creek who lost both their home and vehicle.
“They were just so devastated,” Baca said.
He said the 1st, 2nd and 3rd supervisorial districts were hit hardest and called for improvements in how the county communicates during emergencies.
“Not everyone’s on social media,” Baca said, adding that the county must continue to “ramp up our game” in getting information out.
Baca also urged county leaders to pursue more state funding for disaster prevention, pointing to Proposition 4 and other state resources.
“We should be at the top of the pecking order,” he said.
Supervisor Jesse Armendarez, early in his first term, said the storm tested county systems and showed progress in communication and coordination.
“Being here in the very beginning of my tenure as a county supervisor and going through crises, I see how much progress we’ve made,” Armendarez said.
He thanked county leadership and his chief of staff, Mike Stoffel, for staying on calls throughout the holiday to make sure residents were informed.
Other supervisors echoed those thanks, praising public safety agencies, public works crews and departments such as behavioral health and animal care that supported residents during the storm.
They described the difficulty of repairing roads and clearing debris while residents tried to reach homes and animals, forcing heavy equipment to repeatedly stop and start.
Snoke also gave special recognition to Trevor Leja, an emergency services staff member who worked through illness during the storm response.
“I don’t know if he slept,” Snoke said.
After discussion, the board voted unanimously to ratify the emergency proclamation and continue the local emergency.
Supervisors noted that if a separate major storm hits, they may need to adopt a new or amended proclamation.
The county’s focus, Snoke said, will remain on “life safety, restoring access, supporting continuity of essential services,and providing clear, timely and accurate public information.”
