Residents in Crestline, California, have branded a lack of snow-clearing in their town a “disaster,” as local media reported homeowners have been trapped behind towering snowdrifts after recent winter storms.

Footage recorded by Anita Hodson shows houses blocked behind tall snowdrifts in Crestline, north of San Bernardino. Hodson estimated the biggest snowdrifts to be 20 feet tall and 10 feet wide.

The footage also shows fallen trees and branches littering the roads.

“The area in the San Bernardino mountains is in a dire situation,” Hodson told Storyful, "They removed all the plows off the mountain early on in the snowstorm to clear a highway so all the snow built up on all the roads.

“In some instances people are trapped in their homes. They can’t get food and some are cut off, with no electricity and no internet. The response has been terrible. We need a light shone on this disaster,” Hodson said.

Hodson’s concerns were echoed in local media, with one resident calling Crestline a “disaster zone.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in 13 counties in California, including San Bernardino County, where Crestline is located, on March 1 following intense snowfall in the state.

The governor’s office said on Sunday that more than seven million cubic yards of snow had been removed from state highways in San Bernardino County by March 4. Credit: Anita Hodson via Storyful

Video transcript

- Now, I just wanted to show you-- we're taking another walk today-- the size of these berms. This is higher than me. And-- let's see if I can get up here-- someone's house is there. So how do they get out of here? They can't.

So now we're at the top of the Valley View Drive that we couldn't get up past. So we'll just see if we can take a peek here. This sits very high up on the rim. So holy [MUTED]. Yeah, so they get a lot of wind here, as you can see. A lot of damage with the trees.

Yeah, so the plow hasn't been through here yet. Pretty self-explanatory what's been happening here. Looks like someone's been trying to clear the logs, probably a homeowner.

So we're in sort of the middle of Summit right now. And the street hasn't been plowed up here. But I might try and get up there. We'll take a look. So this big tree came down. Now, Willow, just wait please, honey. OK. Little closer look at these guys. They've got two cars actually damaged. I might go check on them because it looks a bit of a mess over there. All right.