Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 24, 1994 TAG: 9401240110
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
St. Monica's Roman Catholic Church in Santa Monica, damaged in the 1971 Sylmar earthquake, was closed again after last Monday's $30 billion quake cracked walls and sent frescoes tumbling onto the altar. The 5,000-member parish held Mass in the gym - and planned 11 baptisms Sunday.
"The greatest lesson in all this to me is that now we know that God does not always exist just in churches," said the Rev. Doug Glassman, celebrating Mass on a gym floor protected by green tarpaulins. "The church may be destroyed, but they will never, ever take away our faith."
It was a scene repeated across Los Angeles as thousands displaced by the quake struggled to find temporary lodging or get their own homes habitable again.
Federal and local officials intensified their efforts to reach thousands of jittery survivors - many of them recent immigrants from Central America - who spent the week at makeshift camps in parks and open spots. Because of the continuing aftershocks, many are afraid to return to their homes and apartments even though the buildings haven't been condemned.
Emergency shelter checks from the federal government would enable those people to move inside, said Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros, who has made a point of delivering that message individually and in Spanish. He said there was an ample supply of rental housing in the San Fernando Valley.
Eleven multiagency "reassurance teams" fanned out Sunday, urging people to move indoors.
Some 1,200 people have received certificates from the Department of Housing and Development to use for temporary rental housing, Cisneros said. The first family helped by the program moved into an apartment in Hollywood on Saturday.
"We'll just have to sleep on the floor for the time," said Lundy Macias, who moved in with his wife and two children. "But at least I'll be sleeping on the floor instead of outside on the ground."
The number of people camping on their own in cars, parks and vacant lots was unclear and estimates Sunday varied wildly.
The Red Cross sheltered 7,300 people in schools and gymnasiums and put up 3,200 in tents. An additional 4,400 people spent the night in tent cities erected by the National Guard and run by the Salvation Army.
The death toll rose by two Sunday, to 57, when the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office revised its count. Officials refused to give details, or say why the deaths were attributed to the quake.
Also on Sunday:
The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced it was mailing the first 1,100 checks under a program to provide temporary rental assistance for up to three months, said FEMA spokesman Terry Hamlin.
FEMA has taken 24,717 applications for grants, said FEMA Director James Lee Witt.
Gov. Pete Wilson said he wanted the federal government to provide all the money for emergency relief and housing. Federal programs normally provide 90 percent of emergency funds, with the state paying 10 percent.
Although the aftershocks are tapering off, three sizable tremors, measuring 3.7, 4.0 and 3.4 on the Richter scale, were recorded Sunday. Officials evacuated 83 people from a shelter at San Fernando High School because they feared the building was unsound.
Keywords:
INFOLINE
by CNB