Earthquake Reaction

Being a native Southern Californian and a professional working in the disaster-preparedness field, I’ve come up with the latest list of reasons to stay in/get out of Southern California.

REASONS TO STAY:

1. The exceptional courage, kindness and community spirit of all those affected by the earthquake.

2. The extraordinary efforts of city, state and federal agencies and departments to alleviate the impacts of the disaster.

3. The presence of the National Guard to protect our peace and what was left of our property.

4. Maybe more people will take the train and stay off the freeways.

5. Orange County’s Red Cross chapter immediately scheduling classes on disaster/earthquake preparedness.

REASONS TO LEAVE:

1. KCBS (Channel 2) News with its inaccurate and constant use of the “Great L.A. Quake” graphic. To represent the Northridge earthquake as the great one is a serious community disservice.

2. The Orange County Board of Supervisors and Anaheim, who insisted on receiving “their fair share” of federal disaster relief to fix the Sony Jumbotron (scoreboard) at Anaheim Stadium while thousands are left homeless.

3. The Orange County supervisors, who still have not prioritized the funds to correct critical structural faults in county fire stations. 4. The residents of Orange County, for not insisting that these structural problems be corrected immediately, and for not showing up to any of the Red Cross disaster-preparedness classes or stocking up on supplies.

5. The collective commercial parasitic slime who were preying on the victims and (over)charging for critical supplies.

STEVEN M. LICHTEN

Brea