As Humboldt County residents dig out from quake, many are facing recovery without earthquake insurance [The Press Democrat]

Dec. 21—RIO DELL — As weary Humboldt County residents continued to survey the damage from Tuesday's 6.4 magnitude earthquake, the county's Board of Supervisors was preparing to declare a state of emergency to free up money to help the victims, many of whom had no earthquake insurance.

Supervisor Rex Bohn, whose district includes the most affected areas, estimated only 1 out of 20 people in the area had earthquake insurance and stressed that "this is not a good time to be without a house."

The earthquake occurred around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday with an epicenter 9 miles from the town of Ferndale. Authorities announced shortly after that there were two fatalities, 17 injuries and scattered damage in smaller communities.

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The quake knocked out power to tens of thousands of residents, a handful of whom were still waiting for it to be restored Wednesday night.

Ferndale resident Brandi Soderberg, 44, says that while her residence is still habitable after the initial quake, the multiple aftershocks have kept her on edge.

"My place is still a mess," she said late Wednesday afternoon. "The aftershocks have been really strong. Our power just came back on. ... We were without power for 33 hours. Thankfully I was at the low end of the grocery cycle so I didn't lose a lot, but I lost some. I'm still scared of the aftershocks. There's been over 80 aftershocks in the last 40 hours."

The quake occurred in an area known as the Mendocino Triple Junction, where three tectonic plates meet. Light shakes were felt as far away as Chico, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, and aftershocks continued on Wednesday after more than 50 smaller quakes were reported Tuesday. The largest, according to the USGS, was 3.4 magnitude.

Most of the damage appeared to be in the smaller communities of Ferndale, Rio Dell and Fortuna, officials said.

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency late Tuesday. County Sheriff William Honsal also declared a local emergency.

By Wednesday afternoon, the death toll remained at two, but the injury count was at 17 with upward of 30 homes deemed unsafe to occupy.

Bohn, the county supervisor, said 22 houses had been red-tagged in Rio Dell, meaning they were deemed uninhabitable. In Fortuna, about 30 homes were yellow-tagged and three were red-tagged.

The earthquake knocked out electricity to about 70,000 Pacific Gas and Electric customers and about 2,000 of them were still in the dark by Wednesday afternoon, the utility announced. By Wednesday evening, fewer than 200 customers were still in the dark.

The Humboldt County Office of Emergency Services issued boil water advisories for parts of Fortuna, including neighborhoods along Forest Hills Drive, Newell Drive, Valley View Drive, Boyden Lane, Scenic Drive and Cypress Loop Road. Residents in those areas are advised to boil water for at least a minute before consuming.

Around 3,400 residents in Rio Dell did not even have water.

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Westley Drewry, a 25-year-old Rio Dell resident, was preparing to drive 15 minutes each way to take showers at a nearby relative's home.

His fireplace collapsed in the earthquake, and he lost all of his plates and cups, including pie plates he used to make treats every Christmas.

On Wednesday, Drewry told The Press Democrat he remained nervous another earthquake could occur. After each aftershock, he said, Drewry thought "Oh God. Is it going to happen again?"

He verified Bohn's assessment that few residents have earthquake insurance. That includes his dad, who owns the home Drewry was staying in when the earthquake struck.

"It felt like I was a toy in a shoe box with a little kid shaking the (box)," he said.

Attention also fell on the status of State Route 211's Fernbridge, one of two spans over the Eel River leading into Ferndale and which had been closed to traffic since it was damaged in the quake.

Caltrans announced on Twitter Wednesday morning that Fernbridge could reopen sometime during the day, and that a $6 million emergency contract had been awarded to address damages.

The closure was expected to be lifted as early as 8 p.m. Wednesday, Caltrans announced.

Earlier in the day, Bohn praised Caltrans' efforts.

"Caltrans is working their tail off," Bohn said. "The asphalt has been ordered. As soon as they get support in place under the bridge, they'll reopen one-way traffic. ... We get 7,500 trips a day on that bridge, and I don't think they want to put that on Blue Slide Road."

State Sen. Mike McGuire, who represents the region, echoed those sentiments in a tweet.

"Huge thanks to the @CaltransDist1 team. They've been working around the clock to reopen Fernbridge. They know how important this bridge is to Ferndale and the Eel River Valley," McGuire said in the tweet.

Conditions were less dire to the north, from Eureka and beyond. A Cal Poly Humboldt official, for example, said the campus was fine in the earthquake's aftermath.

"The university was really fortunate," Cal Poly Humboldt spokesperson Grant Scott-Goforth said. "There was no damage, no hazmat leaks to any of the infrastructure."

With the semester already done, there were about 100 students left on the university's Arcata campus this week, he said. A cafeteria on campus powered by generators was open until 9 p.m. for staff and students.

Power was restored by 8 p.m., and the university was back to normal operations Wednesday morning, Scott-Goforth said.

Press Democrat Staff Writer Madison Smalstig, photojournalist Kent Porter and copy editor Marc Valles contributed to this report. You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at [email protected]. On Twitter @colin_atagi.

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