San Bernardino Mountain residents are used to snow, but the magnitude of those late-season storms was unlike anything the region has seen in recent history. Eight months later, recovery is ongoing. And worry is spreading that a predicted strong El Niño winter may bring more punishment, along with anxiety about how the local infrastructure can hold up against climate whiplash and whether officials can fix the errors that left so many vulnerable. For weeks last winter, many San Bernardino Mountains residents remained trapped in their homes, buried under as much as 12 feet of snow, some without power for as long as six days.

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• Ceres Courier: El Niño may mean more rain or another dry spell