RECOVERY FROM RUIN; FOR HARD-HIT SIMI VALLEY, DAMAGE MOSTLY A MEMORY.Byline: Lisa Mascaro Daily News Staff Writer Cliff Snowden, 85, has no problem remembering what happened five years ago on the morning of Jan. 17. That was the day his mobile home left its foundation. ``It threw it up in the air,'' he said, describing the Northridge Earthquake's effect on his single-wide. ``It wasn't one of those shaking things; it was a big whomp whomp Informal n. A loud, heavy blow or thud. v. whomped, whomp·ing, whomps v.tr. 1. To hit or strike. 2. .'' After the shaking stopped early that Monday morning, 18 of the 274 homes in Simi Country Mobile Home Estates were left standing. The rest were casualties of the biggest earthquake to hit the area in years. Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. was among the harder-hit areas in Ventura County, along with Fillmore, in the quake Quake - A string-oriented language designed to support the construction of Modula-3 programs from modules, interfaces and libraries. Written by Stephen Harrison of DEC SRC, 1993. that brought more than $205.8 million in federal disaster aid to the county from the Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is the federal agency responsible for coordinating emergency planning, preparedness, risk reduction, response, and recovery. The agency works closely with state and local governments by funding emergency programs and providing technical . While residents in neighboring neigh·bor n. 1. One who lives near or next to another. 2. A person, place, or thing adjacent to or located near another. 3. A fellow human. 4. Used as a form of familiar address. v. Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. felt the rattle and roll, those in Simi Valley and their neighbors to the north in Fillmore lived it, with furniture flying through their rooms, water being cut off and aftershocks sending folks out doors seeking a stable place to rest. ``It devastated dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. Fillmore,'' said Mayor Evaristo Barajas, whose small city of 19,000 residents suffered some $50 million in damages. But five years later, most of the remnants of the morning's disaster lie in the memories of residents like Snowden, who talks about pulling water from the pool to flush To empty the contents of a memory buffer. See buffer. Flush Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s spaniel, subject of a biography. [Br. Lit.: Woolf Flush in Barnhart, 446] See : Dogs (data) flush the toilets, relying on the kindness Kindness See also Generosity. Allworthy, Squire Tom Jones’s goodhearted foster father. [Br. Lit. of neighbors to see one another through and sharing light moments of relief after the worst had passed. ``Just about everybody stayed and replaced their homes,'' said resident manager Mary McMullen. ``Everything's up and running and back to normal.'' FEMA FEMA, n.pr See Federal Emergency Management Agency. reports that of the funds to Ventura, nearly $100 million went to public agencies for infrastructure repairs, $74.6 million to individuals and $20.7 million to local school districts. In all, FEMA reports 26,603 residents in Ventura County were granted individual aid. FEMA officials at the Northridge Long-Term Long-term Three or more years. In the context of accounting, more than 1 year. long-term 1. Of or relating to a gain or loss in the value of a security that has been held over a specific length of time. Compare short-term. Recovery Area Office in Pasadena said their job is almost done as they look forward in the next few months to making the remaining funds available to the local agencies. ``We'll have the funding all out there. It'll be up to the local governments to finish the repairs,'' said David Fukutomi, a public assistance officer at FEMA. Though officials could not estimate how far along the county was in finishing repairs stemming from the quake, they were confident that most of the improvements were nearing completion. ``Overall, things are progressing real well,'' Fukutomi said. ``Every day we're in contact with applicants who are just about done or completed.'' For officials in areas hit hard by the quake, such is increasingly the case. Fillmore officials estimate their city is 90 percent to 95 percent finished with planned quake repairs - which included building a new water reservoir, repairing sewer lines Noun 1. sewer line - a main in a sewage system sewer main main - a principal pipe in a system that distributes water or gas or electricity or that collects sewage and demolishing hazardous buildings. ``People just got right in and started working on it,'' Barajas said. ``To tell you the truth, it made it better. . . . I think we came out of this healthy.'' Likewise, officials from Simi Valley, which as a city received $18 million from FEMA, about one-fifth of the FEMA funds sent to public agencies in the county, estimate the city is virtually done. The city has built a new $10 million police station with $4 million from FEMA; has a new $2 million water tank project under way; and continues to conduct geological ge·ol·o·gy n. pl. ge·ol·o·gies 1. The scientific study of the origin, history, and structure of the earth. 2. The structure of a specific region of the earth's crust. 3. A book on geology. studies of the eastern part of town, which suffered the worst during the temblor. ``I'd say we're about 99 percent complete in terms of what the city is doing,'' said Assistant City Manager Laura Heron. But still, there are troubled areas. In Simi Valley, for example, Heron said some neighborhoods, such as the hard-hit Sabina Circle area, have had a difficult time since the quake. ``There are some homes, particularly in the eastern end of the community, that people have actually walked away from that are still vacant,'' Heron said. ``They're coming back very slowly.'' CAPTION(S): 5 Photos PHOTO (1-2--Color) Jessica Peel, 3 years old at the time, sits in front of her family's mobile home a week after the 1994 quake, top. Above, Simi Country Mobile Home Estates manager Mary McMullen is proud of the park's recovery. Tina Gerson/Daily News Terri Thuente/Daily News (3) Darrell and Gerrie Garner stand in front of their downtown Fillmore hardware store, which suffered heavy damage in the Northridge Quake. Tina Gerson/Daily News (4-5) Fillmore Mayor Evaristo Barajas enjoys a park where the Masonic Lodge once stood, left. At right, the quake destroyed the Fillmore Hotel. Tina Gerson/Daily News |
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