(The following article by Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell was posted on the Pasadena Star-News website on October 22.)
NORTH WHITTIER, Calif. — Inalviz Gonzalez can’t sleep.
For Gonzalez and 22 families who returned to their homes this week after being evacuated Saturday when a freight train derailed near their homes, it will be a while before life returns to normal.
“I’ve missed work because I’ve had nightmares and feel sick all the time. Sometimes I even start shaking, and I never used to shake,’ said Gonzalez, 24, on Thursday.
Gonzalez and her Croton Avenue neighbors also complain about constant noise coming from a clean-up crew removing wreckage and debris from the area beside the tracks, located between the homes and the San Gabriel River (605) Freeway.
“It’s a lot of noise all day and night, and I am upset,’ said Reyes Carranza, his voice drowned out by the honking of a freight train passing by. “We are trying to go back to normal, but it is a confusing time. Nobody likes what happened.’
The workers have been at the site all week loading up piles of sporting goods, computers, clothing and other items that spilled from cargo containers during the derailment. Rain, heavy at times, has hindered the operation, said Mark Davis, a spokesman for Union Pacific.
“Wednesday’s weather gave us a setback, and right now it’s very muddy, so we really don’t know when we will be done,’ he said.
Union Pacific also hasn’t determined the cost of removing the debris and helping residents, he said.
The two families with the most severe damage to their homes are still housed in a South El Monte hotel. Thursday workers moved belongings from one of the homes into a moving van.
Union Pacific will continue helping those families as long as needed, said Davis.
The railroad and Whittier City School District also held a meeting with residents of the neighborhood on Thursday night at Mill Elementary School.
Wayne Horiuchi, a representative from Union Pacific Railroad, began the meeting by apologizing to about 50 residents from the neighborhood gathered in the school auditorium.
“We want to apologize,’ he said. “It’s the worst kind of thing that could happen to a community and we have asked you to attend for crisis counseling, but we’ll provide information on claims at the end of the meeting.’
The two families who are still leaving in the hotel rooms attended the meeting. Family members said they are not considering legal action at this point but are still in a state of shock over what happened.
“I’m in a way angry, but I’m more sad. I miss my house and I am mostly here because I want some answers,’ said Adriana Ocegueda. “Maybe talking to someone here will help me think a little clearer.’
Crisis counseling was provided to all the families in attendance by Pacific Clinic in Santa Fe Springs and the Intercommunity Child Guidance Center in Whittier.
Union Pacific reps said they would pay for counseling services down the road.
The train had just left a rail yard in East Los Angeles and was headed for Marion, Ark. at 57 mph in a 60 mph zone when it derailed.
A broken rail caused the derailment, said Davis.
A 6-foot rail segment with the defect was being sent to Washington, D.C. for further analysis by the National Transportation Safety Board.