Salvadorans in Southland Await Word After Quake

As local aid workers began relief efforts, Salvadorans in Southern California scrambled Sunday to find out whether relatives survived a massive earthquake that struck the Central American country Saturday.

Organizers of the relief effort stressed the need to avoid the mistakes after Hurricane Mitch, which hit Central America in 1998, when thousands of donated items never made it to those in need.

The 7.6-magnitude quake, which was felt throughout Central America and as far north as Mexico, killed nearly 400 people and injured more than 700. Hundreds more are still missing.

Aide Contreras, 72, of Granada Hills, one of more than 600,000 Salvadorans living in the Los Angeles area, said she was talking on the phone with her daughter in El Salvador when the quake struck.

“We had to hang up because the lines went out, and I couldn’t talk to her for four hours,” Contreras said.

“I was imagining the worst. I remember the 1986 earthquake,” a relieved Contreras said.

Others weren’t so lucky. By Sunday afternoon, many families were still unable to communicate with loved ones because telephone lines were down or overloaded.

Maria Irene Tabora of West Los Angeles said at first she didn’t pay much attention to the news of the quake, but a neighbor noticed that Santa Tecla, one of the areas hit hardest, was where Tabora’s mother lived. Tabora still doesn’t know whether her family survived.

“I can’t get in touch with any of them, and I keep thinking about my mother. . . . Her leg was broken. Would they have gotten her out in time?” she said.

Others got through but received devastating news.

Carlos Alberto Cea choked back tears as he talked about the loss of his two youngest children when a hillside collapsed on their home in Santa Tecla.

Cea recalled his last phone conversation with his son, Carlos Alberto, 16, and his daughter, Yance, 13. He called after New Year’s. “I was telling my son to open a savings account, because when I was 16, I suffered a lot. I didn’t have any money, and I didn’t want him to suffer,” Cea said.

Like many, Cea’s shock over his loss quickly turned to a sense of helplessness as he confronted immigration restrictions prohibiting him from returning to El Salvador for burials.

Cea, who is in the process of requesting amnesty under the Nicaraguan and Central American Adjustment Act, said he had applied to bring both of his children to the United States. Now, he might not be able to attend their funerals because his papers are still being processed.

According to Meredith Brown, a lawyer for the nonprofit Assn. of Salvadorans of Los Angeles, immigrants requesting residency who do not get permission from the INS to leave the country could be barred from returning to the United States for up to 10 years.

An emergency waiver could take more than a week to process, Brown said. Cea and others are worried that as the death toll climbs, the threat of disease will force their families to bury relatives before they can return.

Local aid and immigration organizations have sprung into action, locating family members, assisting with immigration requests and coordinating relief efforts.

Twelve-year-old Yajaira Aragon was one of nearly 40 volunteers from the association in downtown Los Angeles holding signs Sunday asking drivers to help the earthquake victims. Aragon, who was born in the United States, said she was proud to help her mother’s country. “Many people have stopped and given money. It’s nice, you know, to see people just acting from their hearts.”

At the Central American Resource Center, director Angela Sanbrano stressed that monetary donations are most appreciated. “During Mitch, people donated all sorts of items that we couldn’t use, like one shoe, or canned food” with expired dates, she said. “It was as if people were cleaning out their closets. We couldn’t send much of it, and it’s so expensive. For the cost of shipping all that food, we could have bought fresher items in the country,” she said.

Carmen de Mendoza, assistant at the Salvadoran Consulate in Los Angeles, agreed. She said people can help most by giving money, which can then be used to buy blankets and medicine.

But for many, the losses are irreplaceable.

On Sunday, Cea spoke with regret about the nine years in which he hadn’t seen his children.

“I always sent money, but I couldn’t go back because of immigration, and it was too expensive,” he said. “Now, I just want to be able to bury my children.”

When Cea last talked with his daughter, she had asked the same question she always asked: “When will I see you again?” He had given the same answer: “Soon.”

For information about where to send donations, contact the Assn. of Salvadorans of Los Angeles at (213) 483-1244 or the Central American Resource Center, (213) 385-7800.