Crestline struggles to repair buildings damaged in last winter storm
With only a few months until winter comes back, residents in Crestline are racing to fix their roofs before storms return to Southern California.
Earlier this year, a destructive blizzard battered the San Bernardino mountain communities. The immense amount of snow trapped residents in their secluded cities and caved-in roofs throughout the area, including the only market in town.
Six months later, contractors are still constantly making repairs to just under a thousand damaged or destroyed structures.
"It's a thousand to gut it and rebuild it," said resident Gigi Bannister. "It's a thousand to replace the glass and those thousands kind of add up."
Banister and her husband, who are both veterans on fixed incomes, have paid $35,000 to repair their deck which buckled under the weight of the snow. The couple received only $6,000 from FEMA, but still need to repair their roof and gutters.
They've appealed to FEMA for additional funds but have run into the same problem many mountain residents have encountered — they can't get an estimate. With the overflow of work for contractors, most have stopped giving estimates altogether, leaving Bannister and many others footing the bill.
"It's a catch-22," said Bannister.
According to Bannister, many insurance companies are now dropping some resident's policies or challenging claims from people trying to fix their homes.
"I am blessed because I actually have my house," said Bannister. "I'm living in my house. There are some people here who lost everything. They're homeless now."
After starting two weeks ago, the local supermarket Goodwins hopes to finish its exterior roof repairs before the storms start spinning up again.
