Even after an evacuation warning was lifted for the San Bernardino County mountain community of Lytle Creek, some residents remained stranded after a bridge was damaged while others contended with mounds of mud that had infiltrated homes.
“It’s tragic here,” said Travis Guenther, 54, who lives in the town’s Happy Jack neighborhood. “This is a horrible scene down here.”
Residents of the community were ordered to leave their homes on Christmas Eve as a fierce storm bore down on the region. But for the 280 residents of Happy Jack, it was impossible to drive out, according to Guenther.
The roads on either side of a bridge that serves as the sole artery allowing entrance and egress to the neighborhood were washed out, he said. Officials said floodwaters from the creek blew out those points of connection for the bridge.
On Sunday, county public works crews constructed a temporary bridge essentially out of dirt, according to Capt. Shawn Millerick, a spokesperson for the San Bernardino County Fire Department.
A video he took around 1 p.m. shows bulldozers and other heavy machinery scooping heaps of sediment and moving logs. A rudimentary bridge was visible under now-blue skies.
“We tested a fire truck going across it,” Millerick said Sunday afternoon. “Because the issue was that, in the event of an emergency, we need to be able to get access to those houses and people.”
He wasn’t certain, however, whether residents could use it — it was still being built when he left.
Guenther said the structure couldn’t be used by residents until a structural engineer came out to make sure it’s safe. That’s expected to happen on Monday.
“So we’re still trapped inside of our neighborhood, as far as all of our vehicles go,” he said.
Lytle Creek was among San Bernardino County communities hit hard by the holiday storm, which brought a torrent of rain to parts of the San Gabriel Mountains. Residents of Wrightwood also were digging out following the deluge.
In Happy Jack, the water has receded, and many have walked out. But Guenther said that’s not feasible for elderly residents.
What’s more, he estimated that about 30 homes were “red tagged,” or currently deemed unsafe to inhabit, after debris flows choked homes with pounds and pounds of sludge. Power was also shut off in those homes, he said.
On Sunday afternoon, Guenther was among a volunteer crew helping to dig out mud from an older woman’s home. Members of the Sunrise Church in Rialto, who had shown up to lend a hand, were carrying out bucket after bucket.
Over a video call, Guenther showed that he was able to raise his hand above a 10-foot roof, suggesting that he was standing on about 5 feet of mud. Cars were entombed up to the tops of their wheels in sediment.
Guenther, who cares for stray and abandoned animals as chairman of a committee run through the Lytle Creek Community Center, was on alert for non-humans in need of help as well.
Mud had smothered a koi pond on the woman’s property, likely killing the fish, but two of four turtles were found alive. Guenther washed one of the turtles — a red-eared slider — with a water bottle, and it was recuperating in a bathtub.
They also opened a cupboard to find five kittens, which the homeowner had never seen. Guenther believes they were sheltering there because of the intense storm.
Other local felines may not have fared so well. Guenther said dozens of cats usually roam the area, but he had only seen about five amid the destruction.
“I know people are focused on people right now, as they should be,” Guenther said, “but there’s a whole separate tragedy there with the animals.”
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