CA Gov. Newsom Declares State of Emergency Over Blizzards — a Week Late

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) declared a state of emergency for 13 counties in the state on Wednesday — a week after the most recent blizzards began, and after some residents have been trapped by snow for days, according to Breitbart News.

A winter storm that swept the state began dumping snow on mountain communities — and even at high elevations near, or within, San Francisco and Los Angeles. L.A. County received its second-ever blizzard warning from the National Weather Service. Rain and snow persisted for a week, with only a brief respite on Sunday. Thousands of residents and travelers were stuck in mountain communities for days, as ski resorts shut down and authorities closed roads. Local officials struggled to respond to calls for help. And Newsom was quiet.

Until Wednesday evening, a week later, when his office issued the following press statement (in part):

SACRAMENTO – Working to support Californians impacted by severe winter storms, Governor Gavin Newsom today proclaimed a state of emergency to support disaster response and relief in the counties of Amador, Kern, Los Angeles, Madera, Mariposa, Mono, Nevada, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Sierra, Sonoma and Tulare. The text of today’s emergency proclamation can be found here.

The Governor has also activated the State Operations Center to bring state support to county-led emergency response efforts and coordinate mutual aid from neighboring jurisdictions, especially in San Bernardino County. Significant numbers of state personnel are on the ground supporting San Bernardino County, including from the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), Caltrans and the California Highway Patrol, working closely with the county-led Incident Command to rapidly deploy resources and address emergency management needs.

Newsom’s action came days after widespread reports of dwindling food and fuel supplies in mountain communities that had been cut off from the outside world, such as those in San Bernardino County.

In Florida, a state whose Republican government Newsom likes to mock, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) typically declares a state of emergency for affected counties several days before an imminent storm makes landfall.