LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: EARTHQUAKES, GAMBLING AND THANKS: CAPE GIRARDEAU NATIVE DESCRIBES WORKING THROUGH THE EARTHQUAKE: WOULD YOU BE READY?

To the Editor:

An open letter to my friends living near the New Madrid fault:

After surviving riots, fires, floods, drought, gang warfare, gridlocked freeways and several earthquakes, I considered myself almost a native Angeleno. Five years of living in this city and I figured I had just about seen it all. Until January 17th, at 4:31 a.m.

Unlike most Southern Californians, I was awake when it hit. I was working the overnight shift at KNBC in Burbank. Back in a small editing room, I was telling my editor, Kevin, what shots to cut for the morning show. Then, quite suddenly and without warning, the entire NBC building began to move. Shake. Rumble. Rock and roll. It was violent and loud, like some giant unseen hand was slamming a fist against the side of the building.

Assuming that a nuclear holocaust was unlikely, I assumed it was an earthquake. A big one. Maybe THE big one. I dove under my desk, but my editor wasn't so quick. A recent transplant from New Jersey, he didn't have a clue what to do. Hard-cased videotapes were slamming like bombs on our heads from the surrounding bookcases. Still, Kevin was paralyzed. I screamed at him to duck and cover, then I finally just grabbed him and pulled him under. I figured he wasn't quite ready to meet his maker yet.

When it was over, I ran back into the newsroom and saw the destruction. Before the quake, 15 large TV sets had suspended from the ceiling. Every single one of them had crashed onto the writers' desk. File cabinets and furniture was overturned, ceiling tiles were smashed on the floor, and a thick white dust permeated the air.

Luckily, NBC has auxiliary power, so we were never in the dark. I'm also proud to say we were the first station on the air. Four minutes after the quake we were broadcasting the first pictures to the outside world.

I didn't make it to my home in Encino for another four hours. Was my roommate, Julie, alive? Had my precious cocker spaniel, Piper, been crushed? Was my home still standing?

Incredibly, Julie and Piper were alive and well. The house itself didn't have a single crack. We lost pictures off the wall, and a bookcase in my bedroom crashed onto my bed. My stereo landed quite softly on my pillow. I'm just glad my head wasn't there at the time.

My house sits just a few miles from the epicenter in Northridge. Thanks to the mysteries of geophysics, damage at my place was minimal. Miles away, though, freeways collapsed and houses slid down hills. Just a few miles to the west, my cousin Joel found a chimney lying in his kitchen.

I lucked out, but thousands didn't. Fifty-seven died and more than 6,500 were injured. Most of the deaths happened when buildings collapsed, but the coroner also reports of deaths from freeways collapsing, falls, falling objects, fires, electrocution, power failure and heart attack.

10,961 homes are uninhabitable.

I tell you this for only one reason. Get ready. After it happens it's too late. Let me ask you a few questions.

Do you have a flashlight beside every bed? You do? Do they actually have batteries that work?

Do you have enough water stored for your family? Your pets? Enough to cook with? To bathe with?

Do you have a campstove or bar-b-que grill? Do you have enough fuel to cook? How else are you going to eat when you have no power or gas? Go out to a restaurant? Get real.

Do you have a stash of cash on hand? When the banks are closed and stores are destroyed, money talks.

Do you have a supply of canned food? A manual can opener?

Do you know how to shut off the gas main to your house? Do your children? Is there a wrench next to the valve? There should be.

Is there anything hanging over your bed that would hurt if it fell on you? Move it.

Do you know first aid? Do you have a fully-stocked medical kit? In a massive earthquake, you may not be able to get to a hospital. Your hospitals may no longer exist.

These questions just begin to cover everything you need to know to prepare for an earthquake. You can find out more from the Red Cross, the library or the local disaster preparedness center. Don't think it won't happen and don't put it off. And don't say I didn't warn you.

And come out and see me some time. The weather is great and the roses are just starting to bloom.

Love,

DONNA McNEELY

Encino, CA

Ms. McNeely is a native of Cape Girardeau. Her father was employed at KFVS Television for over 50 years.