California declares state of emergency in 13 counties over winter storm

California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a state of emergency for 13 countries in State after it was hit by a powerful winter storm, leaving several residents trapped inside their homes under several feet of snow.

Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency for 13 California counties, including San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Amador, Kern, Madera, Mariposa, Mono, Nevada, San Luis Obispo, Sierra, Sonoma, and Tulare. Many of the areas received a significant amount of snow, causing more than $1 billion in damages. 

San Bernardino was one of the counties most affected by the storm. Authorities have conducted more than 100 rescues so far, County Fire Chief Dan Munsay said in a news conference.

It is unclear if any of the incidents resulted in serious injuries. 

“We’re responding to medical calls. We’re responding to fires in these trapped vehicles. We are going to people’s houses where they’ve had trees through their houses or some sort of roof collapse and we are evacuating them to our evacuation shelters,” Munsey said.

In addition to deploying a large number of state personnel to respond to those trapped under the snow, the state’s Office of Emergency Services also deployed the California National Guard to help dig out communities that were left trapped in the snow.

However, officials warned that it could take up to 10 days to dig out certain communities in the mountains.