A moving Christmas for Porter Ranch families

Gonzalo Cerda in the front window of his home in Porter Ranch. Cerda will be staying put at the same time many of his neighbors look for temporary housing because of the SoCal Gas leak.

Wendy Corell, right, tours a disabled-accessible hotel suite in Van Nuys with caregiver Edwin Canas. Corell is dealing with health issues from multiple sclerosis and is moving from her home in Porter Ranch until the leak is fixed.

Christine Katz, her husband and their five children spent their days before Christmas dealing with physical problems caused by the fumes and the hassle of relocating to a house that SoCal Gas has agreed to lease at a rate of $8,000 a month.

Peter Rabadi, right, carries files while his wife, Danielle, left, locks up their house in Porter Ranch. “This holiday, we’re all living in hotel rooms or with relatives and don’t know when we’ll be moving back into our homes,” Danielle said.

Porter Ranch is a 30-year-old master-planned community of 30,000 people, schools, businesses, parks and hiking trails tucked beneath the Santa Susana Mountains at the northwestern tip of the San Fernando Valley.

Realtor Danielle Rabadi, right, meets with client Annette Hammel n Porter Ranch. Rabadi is struggling to relocate families affected by the SoCal Gas Co. gas leak.

The late afternoon sun casts a warm glow on ridgeline homes in Porter Ranch. The comunity has survived wildfires, hurricane-force winds and a massive earthquake -- it is now contending with a disruptive natural gas leak.

A security guard stands in the doorway of the entrance station to SoCal Gas Co.’s Aliso Canyon storage facility in Porter Ranch. Since Oct. 23, the well has been leaking at a rate of 110,000 pounds an hour.