'She was a joy for the neighborhood': South California woman, 93, dies after being trapped in home as severe snowstorms hit San Bernardino
SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA: An elderly South California woman died after getting trapped inside her home when severe snowstorms hit San Bernardino County. Elinor "Dolly" Avenatti, 93, who lived alone in the mountains of California was found dead by her concerned neighbor on March 6, Monday, after her Crestline community lost power and she was left without access to food for nearly two weeks.
"Nobody expected that much snow," Avenatti's great-niece, Valli Bryan Compton, told the NBC News. "It's hard to say it's the government's fault or it's the city's fault. I just wish they could have let people go up there because we could have gotten her." The elderly woman is one of 12 Californians who have been discovered dead in the wake of the tundra, and meteorologists have warned that another storm, which might start Thursday night, could bring much more snow, according to DailyMail.
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'She passed away in her happy place'
Compton remembered her final exchange with her now-deceased aunt on February 28. She gave her family a heads-up that day about the bad weather and asked them not to visit her. Compton told NBC News that the woman described the setting as a "Winter Wonderland". As the power went out at Avenatti's house, their call was ended, in the middle, according to Compton. Twenty minutes later, they were back on the phone. The following day, Compton checked local power outages and learned that Avenatti's power had likely gone out once more. "If she had power and wasn't trapped in the house, I 99.99% believe she would still be here today," Compton told NBC News. "At least she lived a great life and passed away in her happy place."
David Wert, a spokesperson for the county told NBC News, "We understand that people are not happy about being trapped in their homes. This was really unavoidable. When you have 10 feet of snow, there is no way to make it disappear instantly." According to Mara Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the sheriff's department, a total of 12 individuals have been confirmed dead since the storm's initial snowfall last month.
'She was generous to a fault'
According to Rhea-Frances Tetley, who spoke to the media, Avenatti was vivacious. "She was a joy for the neighborhood," Tetley told The Seattle Times. "She was feisty and independent ... and generous to a fault." Tetley told the newspaper that after approximately a week of neighbors visiting and bringing food, the woman stopped answering the door early this week. "She didn't have heat," Tetley said. "I think that she froze to death in the house." Once Avenatti was discovered, she claimed, authorities paved the street so they could respond to her death. The weather even prompted Southern California to receive its first blizzard warning since 1989, according to CBS News.