WEST HILLS : Many Relieved That Damage Was Light
Like an accident victim who gingerly feels around for broken bones and finds just a sprain, the West Hills community, post-earthquake, is heaving a big sigh of relief.
“Relative to many other areas in the San Fernando Valley, West Hills was generally very lucky in that most people did not suffer significant damage,” said Joel Schiffman, board member of the West Hills Property Owners Assn. “There were some isolated areas where people were pretty hard hit.”
Schiffman estimated that most people suffered less than $5,000 worth of damage to their homes, although in the worst cases, homeowners sustained losses of $50,000 to $70,000. In the community, chimneys fell down or shifted, walls cracked, block walls tumbled and home furnishings were sent cascading to the floor.
“About 90% of what I own was on the floor,” recalled Dayton Clark, president of the homeowners association.
Clark and others said that they have noticed no damage to roadways in the area, and that traffic is flowing smoothly. People in the largely residential community are now mainly concerned with assessing property damage and trying to get Federal Emergency Management Agency grants and Small Business Administration loans.
The most pressing problem facing residents, Schiffman said, is that in many cases their incomes make them ineligible for emergency grants and low-interest loans, yet they can’t afford to make the repairs themselves.
At Fallbrook Mall, the three major department stores remained closed, with inventory damage and major wall cracks.
Christine Silvestri, marketing director for the mall, said J. C. Penney is slated to reopen in two weeks, Mervyn’s department store will do the same in two months, and Sears’ timetable is “uncertain.”
The rest of the mall suffered no structural damage and was open for its first full day of business last Thursday, Silvestri said.
Hardest hit businesses were the gift shops, some of which lost 30% to 40% of their inventory, she said.
“We came through extremely well,” Silvestri said.
“We were very pleased and grateful.”
