California Governor Gavin Newsom’s incompetent response to the unprecedented winter storms that have buried mountain towns in both Northern and Southern California under more than a foot of snow has led to the deaths of at least three people in San Bernardino County, and those involved in volunteer search and rescue efforts believe that body count will climb.

While the area receives some snow every year and has snow plows and other snow removal equipment, it received a year’s worth (or more) of snow over a seven-day period. Newsom declared a State of Emergency the morning of March 2 just prior to jetting off for Cabo for the weekend, but the promised assistance from state officials still hasn’t arrived, for the most part — and that’s had deadly consequences. …

Newman-Harrison told RedState that during typical winter storms the county pre-treats the roads and snowplows are operating throughout the storm to prevent large accumulations, but that didn’t happen during this storm, even during breaks in the weather. She and other year-round residents sprung into action as soon as the snow stopped, working to dig people out of their homes and help elderly and disabled neighbors, and to gather food and necessary supplies to distribute to those in need. When Newsom declared a State of Emergency on the morning of Thursday, March 2, she believed that help would be there quickly, but those hopes were dashed when she learned that the California Highway Patrol wasn’t allowing supply trucks up the mountain even after the main roads up were clear. (San Bernardino County authorities maintain that supply trucks have been allowed up, but volumes of residents say that’s not true.)

[RedState, like our other sister sites, has a reserved slot in our Headlines marquee, but I want to highlight this by making sure people get a good look at this report. Jennifer has some excellent first-person reporting and this story is too important to led slide. Be sure to read it all. — Ed]