EARTHQUAKE: THE LONG ROAD BACK : Simi Valley, Fillmore Victims Seek Aid and Prepare for Storm : Recovery: Residents hurry with repairs to beat the expected rain. Red Cross opens disaster centers in the two cities.

As hundreds of quake-shaken Ventura County residents sought help and money Saturday at disaster relief centers in hard-hit Simi Valley and Fillmore, homeowners patched broken roofs against the expected rain.

There is a 50% chance of rain by sunrise today, with a storm front that could bring up to half an inch moving in from the west, said Stuart Seto, a National Weather Service forecaster.

Today’s rain probably will end tonight, but another storm could bring more precipitation to the region Monday, he said.

Temperatures for Ventura County are expected to be in the mid-60s today and in the high 30s tonight, Seto said.

Seismologists recorded a handful of aftershocks Saturday, but all registered a magnitude 3.2 or less on the Richter scale, far below Monday’s 6.6-magnitude earthquake and aftershocks Wednesday that registered 5.1.

The Red Cross opened disaster service centers on the site of federal relief efforts at the Sycamore Drive Community Center in Simi Valley and the Fillmore Senior Center.

The Red Cross centers--offering food, clothing, medicine, tools and other aid to quake victims--will try to bridge any gaps left at the FEMA centers, which are run in the two cities by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Dennis Jennings, manager of the Simi Valley Red Cross center.

“The idea is to try to get (people) back on their feet and headed towards a normal life as quickly as possible,” Jennings said.

The number of people in the four Red Cross emergency shelters had dwindled from 600 to 375, said Mike Goth, Red Cross emergency services director for Ventura County.

Although water service was back on in both Simi Valley and Fillmore, Simi Valley officials issued a plea late Saturday for water conservation.

Officials were still advising residents in Simi Valley and those living at Eldorado Mobile Home Estates in Fillmore to boil their water for drinking or cooking.

By Saturday evening, building inspectors had nearly finished their rounds in Fillmore, having slapped red tags onto 236 residential and commercial buildings to declare them unsafe.

Another 298 buildings were labeled damaged and off-limits to unauthorized personnel or non-residents, Fillmore city building official Kevin McSweeney said.

By Saturday morning in Simi Valley, inspectors had declared 60 residences and other buildings--including four churches and three schools--unsafe, and another 256 buildings damaged, Deputy City Manager Jim Hansen said.

In Fillmore, Scott and Rod Schrock wrestled thick plastic sheeting onto their sister’s roof and a neighbor’s roof to cover gaping holes left by fallen chimneys.

“They’re going to have it covered up on the roof with plastic so the rain doesn’t come in and damage what the earthquake didn’t,” said Vicki Campbell, the men’s sister.

To get the building inspectors’ OK to move back in, Campbell and next-door neighbor Kelly Scoles had to knock down what was left of the chimneys at their houses on 2nd Street. The Schrock brothers sweated away at the job.

“This old gal came out pretty well,” Scoles said, nodding at shattered stucco ringing the house’s intact foundation, as the men nailed plastic sheeting onto its damaged eaves. “These are good guys to do this for us.”

In Simi Valley, neighbors clambered over Cecile and Leon Crowningshield’s roof, replacing tile that had slid off and shattered in the shuddering quake and aftershocks.

“We are appreciating it. We were wondering how we were going to get the work done before the rain,” Leon Crowningshield said as the work was nearing completion Saturday afternoon. “We think we have most of the bad places sealed, so we think there’ll be no rain coming in to damage the interior.”

Elsewhere in Fillmore and Simi Valley, people moved out of condemned houses and kept appointments made earlier in the week with disaster aid centers in their cities.

The partial collapse of the brick, turn-of-the-century Fillmore Hotel had left dozens of migrant workers homeless, and many were afraid initially to seek aid at the disaster centers, said Efrain Villareal III, a state disaster worker.

Many stayed away from the centers “up until the point where they understood that we weren’t going to ask about their (citizenship) status,” Villareal said. “We do not ask. We do not care.”

So far, the centers have helped about 80 migrant laborers apply for disaster aid, he said, adding, “These people lost just about everything.”

Some quake-damaged merchants were wondering whether they should rebuild at all, said Mark Frost, who helped hand out 90 applications for low-interest residential and business loans from the Small Business Administration.

“We’ve had people not sure if they ever want to get into business again,” he said.

Yet while other merchants suffered massive structural damage and lost all their inventory to the earthquakes, “They’re basically positive” about the recovery, Frost said.

In contrast with the long lines, hot tempers and confusion reported at centers in San Fernando Valley, the quake victims were well-behaved in Ventura County, officials said.

“Everyone’s very cordial with everyone,” Villareal said. “There’s no pushing, no shoving, no fighting.”

By Saturday evening, the disaster aid center in Fillmore had processed 224 applications for help from earthquake victims, said Earl Armstrong of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

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In Simi Valley, the disaster aid center had processed about 600 of the more than 3,000 applicants from that city, along with some San Fernando Valley residents, FEMA spokesman Hugh Darby said. The center probably will be processing aid requests for another two to three weeks, he said.

The applicants’ emotions were still scraped raw by their weeklong ordeal, officials said.

“I’ve been in several disasters and earthquakes,” said Valinda, a state Department of Social Services worker who declined to give her last name. “And this by far is the most devastating.

“People are still in shock,” she said. “Many of them believed they were actually going to die. And by the time they get to our table, they’re still tearful and shaking.”

Around the room at the Sycamore Drive Community Center, men with fresh-combed hair mingled with those sporting 5-day beards. Here and there, injured applicants cradled fresh wrist casts and thumb splints.

More than 400 people have applied so far for low-interest home and business repair loans from the Small Business Administration, said its representative, Chuck Sampson.

Hap Phillips was looking for whatever help he could get.

The quake left the Simi Valley mortgage banker’s condo-cum-workplace uninhabitable and put him in the line for unemployment benefits as well as a small business loan and help with housing.

“There’s no way I’d let my family go back in there,” he said of his ruined home.

Kimberly Marino dandled 2-month-old daughter Cassandra on her knee while seeking government money to pay for her toppled fireplace, ruined air conditioner and damaged roof.

“We had a heating guy check our heating,” Marino said. “He put sheet metal screws in, and it cost $145, so I think we got gouged. We don’t have a lot of money as it is.”

Earthquake victims should be wary with contractors during the recovery and avoid those who appear to charge unreasonably high fees, said Allan Widmeyer of the Contractors State License Board.

“There are a lot of opportunists out there trying to make a lot more than they’re legally allowed,” he said.

Beware of unrealistic promises for quick work or prices that seem exorbitant, he said. If rebuilding with a loan, get an estimate from the lender and compare it with a contractor’s estimate.

And check the contractor’s license number and performance record with the licensing board by calling 800-962-1125, he said.

Contractors and homeowners alike kept cash registers busy at hardware stores such as Home Base in Simi Valley.

There, customers were buying a lot of plywood, plumber’s tape, tarps, flashlights, batteries and flexible hookups for water heaters, clerk Bryan Sprague said.

“We’ve heard stories about people living in their tent, about not being able to get assistance fast, about kids being dirty and people being tired,” Sprague said. “People are frazzled.”

Sprague said two fistfights flared Friday over new water heaters that were being held for customers.

Mike Garrity, a Simi Valley contractor, was buying plywood to repair his house.

“I’ve been doing work for the neighbors over the last few days,” Garrity said. “Now it’s time for me to get started on my own stuff. I came out pretty lucky. It’ll probably just be a day’s work.”

Times staff writer Constance Sommer and correspondent Matthew Mosk contributed to this story.