Police patrol quake-damaged Calif. border town

yahoo ^ | 1 hr 16 mins ago | JULIE WATSON,

[Touch Not the Cat]

Inspectors red-tagged nearly 80 percent of the city's historic downtown area Monday, where roofs were caved in, windows smashed and inventory strewn about after a deadly Easter earthquake in nearby Mexico.

Damage included three huge tanks that hold the city's water supply, as well as a 10 million gallon water clarifying tank, said City Manager Victor Carrillo.

City officials, under a state of emergency, asked residents to limit water use to essential bathing, cooking and washing.

There were no injuries reported in Calexico, the U.S. city hardest hit by the quake, but in neighboring El Centro, someone was injured when hit in the head by a sign at a downtown car wash.

"It's a hard situation and sales were just picking up in March," Kim said, adding that 90 percent of his customers were from Mexicali and he was worried they wouldn't be coming back for awhile.

The downtown area is made up primarily of discount and 99-cent type stores.

The quake could be devastating for the economy of Imperial County, which already has the highest unemployment rate in the state, said Hildy Carrillo, executive director of the Calexico Chamber of Commerce.

Sal Farah, 62, spent the night in his 50-year-old, downtown Yturralde Furniture store, fearing it could be looted since the giant storefront windows were knocked out by the quake.

The initial earthquake downed three power lines in Calexico, a gas leak forced a brief evacuation of about 30 homes, and residents were removed from a senior living center built in the early 1900s. Electricity was out for hours in the city's southeast area.

[Oldpuppymax]

Kalifornia Quake....AKA Christmas Day for Mexican illegals!

[Chuckster]

Oh man! Calexico and El Centro. Two of the saddest places on earth.

[Myrddin]

I spent two weeks in the summer of '89 on strike duty for PacBell. I had to check El Centro, Imperial, Brawley, Calipatria, Niland, Calexico and Holtville every night. Driving through Imperial was punctuated with the smell of cow piss in the air. Breakfast at the "Good Food Cafe" in Niland what the highlight of the trip. I would arrive in Calexico near sunrise. The McDonald's was wall to wall Mexicans at that hour. Many gathering before heading for work in the local ag industry.