Communities are still without electricity after the California earthquake

RIO DEL, Calif. (AP) — Outside of Dollar General, a store manager scrapped items she had to share with families trying to rejuvenate their lives after an earthquake knocked them from their beds and cut off water and power to the city.

Batteries or candles? A worker asked a woman to hold a small child on her hip, and the child handed a plastic candy cane filled with sweets.

A few days before Christmas in Rio Del, the former lumber town grappled with the aftermath of a 6.4-magnitude earthquake early Tuesday that injured at least 17 people, shook homes off their foundations, damaged water systems and left tens of thousands without power, And some for more than a year. day.

By Wednesday afternoon, power was restored to the homes of tens of thousands of residents, and the Christmas lights were back on around the trees on the community’s main street. However, most of the town’s 3,500 residents lack access to safe drinking water, according to local officials.

Twenty-six homes were deemed unsafe, causing an estimated 65 people to be displaced, most of whom were expected to stay with family and friends, said Rio Del City Manager Kyle Knope. Another 37 homes were damaged, and even those without physical cracks required extensive cleaning indoors, where floors were crowded with knocked-out shelves and broken dishware.

By Wednesday night, Pacific Gas & Electric announced that it had essentially restored electric power to all of the roughly 70,000 customers who experienced an outage caused by the quake.

Along this stretch of Northern California coast, earthquakes are common, and people talk about them as much as the weather. But the person who shook people out of their homes was different from the many who found themselves violently flung out of their beds and stumbling through the darkness of the night in search of safety.

As his house began to shake, Chad Sofrin ran into his 10-year-old son Jackson’s room, grabbed him, and dove under the doorframe. The brick chimney collapsed, pulling the wall with it and leaving a hole in their home.

“It felt like the end of the world,” Sovereign said. “I was telling him I loved him. I didn’t say goodbye to him,[but]I was in my head. I was just telling him, ‘I love you, I love you, I love you’ over and over again.”

Sovereign said the family lost water and electricity after the quake, but fortunately they were able to stay in their home. They filled the bathtub with what was left of the water before closing and used it to flush the toilets.

The epicenter was in nearby Ferndale, about 210 miles (345 kilometers) northwest of San Francisco and near the Pacific coast. The area is known for its redwood forests, scenic mountains, and the legendary marijuana crop of three counties in the Emerald Triangle – as well as the Mendocino Triple Junction, a geological region where three tectonic plates meet.

On Wednesday, the community fire station was converted into a motor vehicle command center. Residents parked their cars and carried water in their trunks, while a local food truck distributed tacos and burritos from World Central Kitchen. Other volunteers supported folding tables and provided apples, peaches, bread and canned food.

What was once a bustling lumbering town with shops in the 1970s is today a modest little community made up of retirees, commuters, and renters. When a nearby mill went bankrupt and a main street moved, residents said, Rio del became a shadow of its former self. But it remains a place where people know each other and when reeling from disaster they can go to City Hall and ask for advice on who can replace broken windows – and get it, too.

Outside of Dollar General, Cassondra Stoner, the store manager, said she was told she could hand out water, batteries and candles but had to stop for other items until they were checked over — something she can’t always do.

“I couldn’t help myself,” she said, “and gave someone ibuprofen and some diapers because I wouldn’t let a kid go without a diaper.”

The Dollar General is Rio Dell’s main grocery, replacing the old western-themed mini golf course. Locals said there is also a hardware store and a pizza place in the town that used to earthquake and knock things off shelves and cause damage to business inventory, but rarely damage people’s homes and lives.

“If you’re complaining about less than four points or something, you’re a little person,” said Sharon Wolf, editor of the Rio Dell Times local news site. “We see news reports that this place had a 3.6, and it’s like, ‘Oh, please.'” “

Near Ferndale, which attracts tourists to its picturesque Victorian village, also lost power and a major bridge to the community was closed, but shopkeepers hoped to bounce back quickly once the lights were back on, said Mark Daniels, owner of Mind’s Eye Factory. coffee lounge.

“We know how bad it could have been,” said Daniels, whose two-storey Victorian occupies hers. “We feel like we dodged a bullet this time.”

It was reported that about 17 people were injured. Two people died – 83 years old and 72 years old – because they were unable to get timely medical care for medical emergencies during or immediately after the earthquake.

While more than half of the 72,000 Humboldt County customers who lost power when the quake struck had power restored by Tuesday evening, some went without it — and water — all night. Boiling water warnings have been issued for Rio Dell and parts of Fortuna due to damaged water systems. In Rio Del, portable toilets have been set up downtown.

Celia Magdaleno, 67, said she brought a bowl of water from her neighbor’s pool into her home to flush the toilet. She said she took rainwater that she collected in a barrel outside and heated it so her husband could take a shower before his dialysis appointment.

Having access to water, she said, “means a lot.” “It is a very big blessing for me.”

Nathan Scheinman, 24, said he sat under four blankets but could barely sleep through the cold with the shock of the earthquake repeating in his mind. He lost gas, water, and electricity, and had to drive in search of a usable bathroom. For now, Scheinman said, instead of thinking about the holiday, he’s trying to help the people who come to the hardware store where he does whatever he can in their time of need.

“I think in the spirit of Christmas I want to be there for the people in the best way I can,” he said.

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Taksin reports from Orange County, California, writer John Antzak in Los Angeles and photographer Godofredo Vazquez in Rio del Rio contributed to the Associated Press.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission.

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