14 The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Wednesday, February 16, 1994 Quake (continued from page 1) Wally's daughter and son- in-law, Mary and John Aalto, arrived around 11 a.m. They lived 18 miles away and had also been in the earthquake. After making sure that the older folks were all right and didn't want to come home with them, they left. The Thomsons wanted to make sure that their home was protected before leaving. “We spent the afternoon sit- ting in our backyard in superb weather. Every so often our house would shake from the af- tershocks, some of them over 5.0 (on the Richter scale),” the Thomsons wrote. Aalto returned late in the af- ternoon, to take them to his home. The 18-mile drive, which took about an hour, was ap- palling. “There were scenes of disas- terall the way. Most trafficlights were out. Chimneys down, apartments without walls, am- bulances, fire engines, total confusion. A pall of acrid smoke ‘hung over the valley,” they ‘recalled. ~The Aaltos' home already had ‘its utilities restored, soa cooked ‘meal - using boiled water — was ‘in order. Telephone service was ‘erratic, but John and Mary had managed to call their stepsis- damaged - at least $120 mii- They roughly estimated their wy J Ia 9 dg ~~] ter, Cathy Flick, and several lion. We had been to the library damage at $10,000. They didn't TeBciiTa() > TBTa) je Toba) je TBI) ToBI T a other family members spread there only a week before the have earthquake insurance - { J @ across the country. quake. Its fourth floor has col- the typical policy has $10,000 : ED “The TV showed Myrtle and lapsed onto the third floor. The deductible and probably C) me for the first time the extent epicenter of the quake was wouldn't have helped them, = | of the quake. Up until then we determined to be at the corner ~~ Thomson wrote. ) a had little idea of how wide- of Resedaand Roscoe, 2.4 miles “There must be 100,000 =, spread the damage was and the south-southeast of us. The people in the same shape we » = effect it was having on the val- major quake area has been de- are, maybe more. There may be NS ley and the whole country. We termined to be a square 10 10,000 a lot worse off than we, : 9 | were horrified to hear it called miles on a side. We are right in including the dead, the injured him ® : the Northridge Earthquake,” the middle of that square.” and the homeless." 4 i Vl : Wally Thomson wrote. Thomson described how they Several weeks after the earth- 3 CL (3 BIN N Whest they jetutged to their had been prepared for such a quake, the Thomsons are still = . (Fe ok ouse the next day, “a building disaster: flashlights, enough cleaning up and trying to get hit . : inspector arrived and spent an non-perishable a to last oe back Sl aps i Grotto p izZa hour checking our house. He weeks, six gallons of drinking Family members have al- the tast Sy, said our foundation was OK water, first-aid materials, a ready begun to plan trips to e egendary e = CD and so were the fireplace and chimney. He said that we had the only undamaged chimney on the street. The front of our garage had sustained major damage and was our worst problem.” Later that afternoon part of the block wall around their backyard collapsed. It took the couple two days just to clear a path through their kitchen. Their Guatema- lan housekeeper, Carmela, showed up January 19 to help with the cleanup, later bring- ing her brother and daughter along. It took five days for Aalto to scrounge enough -plumbing supplies torepair the leaks and get the hot water heater going again. As they later watched news- casts of the devastation, Thom- son wrote, “We were appalled to hear of the damage around us. The apartment house where 16 died was only 1.4 miles southeast of us, just across from our post office.” A shopping center which they frequently used and local dis- count stores were also severely damaged. “Cal State Northridge, only two miles from us, was severely SCENES OF DESTRUCTION - January's earthquake in California toppled storage shelves in the garage and walls outside of Wally and Myrtle Thomson's Northridge home. Cathy Flick of Kunkle camp stove, propane lantern and a wrench stored by the gas valve. Their house was bolted to its foundation, while the water heater was boarded up to keep it upright and storage shelves had rope ties across them to secure stored items. Zone change (continued from page 7) procedure.” According to the Standard Industrial Codes (SIC), developed by the federal government to clas- sify businesses by the type of work that they do, the making of wood ~ kitchen cabinets is classified under the manufacture of wood and lumber products, excluding furniture. The Harveys Lake Zoning Ordi- nance of 1993 defines light indus- try on page 2-15 as “A use en- gaged in the! manufacture, pre- dominantly from previously pre- pared materials, of finished prod- ucts or parts, including process- —- PHARMACY « Computerized Prescription Service - Russell Stover Candies « Greeting Cards ing, fabrication, assembly, treat- ment, packaging, incidental stor- age, sales and distribution of such products.” Although he has denied that he is manufacturing in his shop, Sopp has requested a hearing for a variance to allow him to manufac- ture there. His landlord, Joseph Paglian- ite, has also applied to the Luzerne County Planning Commission to rezone the lot where Sopp’s busi- ness is located from commercial to manufacturing. He also wrote that he is not considered to be a manufacturer by the state because he doesn't use raw materials, which he had defined at the November 11 hear- ing as “timber, whole trees.” At that hearing, Sopp had de- scribed how he makes custom cabinets and counter tops: “The plywood is cut to size, screwed together and hinges installed. The Formica tops are glued to the plywood.” California to help with repairs, which Flick says won't begin until the aftershocks have subsided, probably in the summer. Her parents have told her that they plan to rebuild. At a Super Bowl party, the shared the letter and photos she recently received from her mother and stepfather. Their home was a little over two miles from the quake's epicenter. 50 guests, all quake victims, compared notes and agreed that Myrtle and Wally Thomson had been hit the hardest. Thomson concluded: “Myrtle and I consider ourselves very, very lucky. Here we were, right 5 VAN RAVE SA AST BY2V = on top of the worst natural disaster ever to strike this country and yet we escaped uninjured and with damages that we can pay for....We will never again really trust Mother Nature.” ( FREE ELECTRONIC HEARING TESTS WILL BE GIVEN AT ) | North Moreland Fire Co. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23rd, 1994 From 10 a.m. - until 3 p.m. If snow storm will be postponed until Thursday, February 24th The tests will be performed by Hearing Aid Specialists who are registered with the Department of Health, State of Pennsylvania. Anyone who has trouble understanding is welcome to have a test using modern equipment to determine if their loss is one which may be helped. 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