California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has left the state on \u201cpersonal travel\u201d as thousands of desperate residents remain trapped in snow-bound mountain communities where the National Guard failed to arrive as promised.
\nNewsom belatedly\u00a0declared\u00a0a state of emergency on Wednesday, March 1 \u2014 a week after a blizzard swept the state and stranded residents of Crestline, Lake Arrowhead, and other towns in the San Bernardino mountains.
\nAs of Saturday, three days later, the California National Guard had failed to arrive in Crestline. The\u00a0Los Angeles Times\u00a0reported:
\nOn Saturday, desperate San Bernardino County residents were wondering when National Guard troops would arrive. Residents said hundreds of people have lined up for food, dog food and firewood in recent days at community distribution events. Many of them left empty-handed, according to residents who spoke to The Times.
\nResidents are running out of food and medicine. Some are still trapped in their homes, where snowdrifts several feet high are blocking access to driveways and doors. And people are starting to panic about rescue.
\nResidents of some mountain communities have been without power for a week,\u00a0according\u00a0to the Associated Press. And officials say that some residents may not be able to leave for a week. The AP described conditions:
\nShelah Riggs said the street she lives on in Crestline hasn\u2019t seen a snowplow in eight days, leaving people in about 80 homes along the roadway with nowhere to go. Typically, a plow comes every day or two when it snows, she said.
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\nDevine Horvath, also of Crestline, said it took her and her son 30 minutes to walk down the street to check on a neighbor \u2014 a trek that normally takes just a few minutes.
\nHorvath said she was lucky to make it to the local grocery store before its roof collapsed several days earlier but hadn\u2019t been able to leave her street since.
\nThe\u00a0Times\u00a0noted that a volunteer helicopter relief effort was stopped by local authorities over safety concerns.
\nMeanwhile, Newsom himself\u00a0left\u00a0the state Thursday for undisclosed reasons to an unknown location.
\nNewsom remained active on social media, tweeting attacks on Republicans in other states for their socially conservative positions on issues like abortion.
\nBack home, desperate Californians ran out of food and medicine.
\nThe\u00a0San Bernardino Sun\u00a0reported:
\nMilika\u2019a has breast cancer and was only two weeks into treatment when the blizzard hit her Running Springs home. While Milika\u2019a is due for treatment Thursday, like many others in the San Bernardino Mountains, she\u2019s snowed in and unable to leave except on foot.
\nShe contacted the Sheriff\u2019s Department who suggested she take a shuttle from a local shelter \u2014 which she\u2019d have to walk to \u2014 but said it\u2019s not feasible as a cancer patient.
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\nIn nearby Lake Arrowhead, Rebecca Arrowood\u2019s diabetes supplies were due for delivery Saturday. But they never arrived.
\nCounty officials have been overwhelmed by the disaster, and many are criticizing them for failing to anticipate the scale of the snowstorms. Some residents called the state, in desperation. But help has often failed to arrive.
\nNewsom\u2019s office tweeted about ongoing relief efforts that are being coordinated by state agencies, but these have not been enough \u2014 and Newsom himself is nowhere to be found.
\nNewsom likes to troll Republicans like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) over social issues. But in Florida, the governor declares states of emergency days\u00a0before\u00a0a storm arrives \u2014 not a week later. And he dare not leave the state while citizens are still suffering.
\nThe national media are largely absent, as Newsom prepares a potential presidential run \u2014 in 2024, or beyond.
\nMeanwhile, Californians themselves \u2014 including Democrats \u2014\u00a0tell\u00a0pollsters they do not want to see him run.
\nNevertheless, Newsom was easily reelected in 2022, after defeating a recall effort in 2021. The recall arose after Newsom was\u00a0caught\u00a0dining at the elite French Laundry restaurant with lobbyists after telling Californians not to eat out during the pandemic.
\nLast year, Newsom was also\u00a0caught\u00a0leaving the state for a vacation in Montana, despite a ban on state-funded travel to conservative states that had passed abortion or transgender restrictions.
\nThe state saw more snow this weekend. Breitbart News\u00a0reported\u00a0that the snowpack is visibly impressive from the air, as recent storms have relieved California\u2019s drought. But conditions on the ground remain dangerous.
\nVoters in mountain communities tend to support the state\u2019s small Republican minority, which has been largely reduced to an afterthought, as Democrats control supermajorities in both houses of the state legislature.<\/p>\n