Michelle Hake’s sister had been snowbound for days, alone in her Big Bear home. Her family said it was unclear how urgent her medical needs had increased during record-breaking snowstorms last month.
She “needed medical attention in the middle of the storm, and we couldn’t get her,” Hake said. Her family requested an emergency wellness check on Monday.
“We arrived too late,” he said.
San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office deputies found Hake dead shortly after 9 a.m. Monday, according to agency spokeswoman Mara Rodriguez. The cause of death has not been determined, but Rodriguez said there were no signs of trauma or suspicious circumstances.
Hake, who requested that his adult sister not be identified, declined to expose his sister’s medical history or what may have led to her death. But he said he has no doubt that her sister would have received the attention she needed from her if the storms hadn’t trapped her inside her, depriving her of help.
“We were trying to get someone to come check on him,” Hake said. “There was literally no access to get to it; she lives alone. And for so many who are (trapped) in her homes, that is her story.”
At least two other people in San Bernardino’s mountain communities were also found dead through welfare checks since Feb. 23, when the historic blizzards began, Rodriguez said. Another was found dead in Big Bear and the third in Valley of Enchantment, a neighborhood in Crestline.
Rodriguez did not have additional details about the other deaths, and all are awaiting autopsies. However, as of Wednesday, he said none of the three were related to the storm. She did not immediately respond to questions about how that designation is determined.
Hake said many are concerned there may be more victims to be discovered as people continue to dig through the snow.
“The level of loss and the magnitude of the storm… I can’t express how devastating it has been,” Hake said.
For nearly two weeks, many people living in mountain communities from Crestline to Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear have been trapped under massive amounts of snow — more than 100 inches in some places — as officials have scrambled to clear roads and provide aid. after the return to the snow. Subsequent storms battered the region with blizzard conditions and unrelenting snowfall. Residents were without power for days, roofs and decks collapsed, gas leaks sparked storm-related fires, and entire neighborhoods scrambled for food and gas supplies.
As of Wednesday morning, about 95% of the roads in San Bernardino County have been cleared, the officials said, but noted that many of those roads are still wide enough to accommodate single-lane traffic. Nearly 30 miles of roads have yet to be cleared.
Hake and his family were without power at their Crestline home for at least five days, he said, eventually moving to a friend’s house to wait for power to be restored and the roads to clear. She said that for days, there was no way to get to Big Bear to check on her sister, or even to her parents’ house at nearby Lake Arrowhead.
“It feels like we’re living in an alternate reality here,” Hake said. As president of the Crestline Chamber of Commerce, she helps coordinate the delivery of supplies and facilitates wellness checks throughout the mountain community, even before her sister was found dead.
He said that during one of those checks, a neighbor found an elderly man inside his house, where “for the last five days he had been rationing a frozen tamale.”
“I don’t think people know how bad it is right now,” Hake said. “We are literally trying to find people like my sister, people who are in their homes, and their lives are on the line.”
Hake’s Hearth & Sage General Store in Crestline remains closed, and she doesn’t expect to reopen with the roads still difficult to navigate and most parking lots littered with excess snow from plowing.
“Right now, we are still focused on reaching people in need and holding everyone accountable (for),” Hake said.
Rodriguez, a spokesman for the San Bernardino sheriff, said the number of welfare checks in recent days has dropped significantly. She said officials are doing home visits the same day a wellness check is requested.
If anyone needs help checking on a neighbor or loved one, officials said to call 911 or county storm response Call Center at (909) 387-3911.
