Page 10 - HOSPITAAL

A4 U.S. NEWS
Friday 26 January 2018

Emotional residents return to California mudslide area

through his refrigerator, age pipes, gas service
throwing away spoiled and electricity. Montecito
food and chuckling at how was hit by debris-laden
bad it smelled. His wife, Pa- flash floods on Jan. 9 when
mela, took notes on each downpours from a storm hit
item to submit to their insur- mountain slopes burned
ance company. bare by a huge wildfire.
The couple initially re- Hundreds of homes were
mained in their home af- damaged. A 17-year-old
ter the mudslides but later boy and 2-year-old girl re-
stayed with friends and in main missing.
a hotel when their electric- Village Service Station re-
ity was shut off a few days opened shortly after the
later. “We can’t feel sorry mudslides, providing fuel,
for ourselves. Our lives are food and restrooms for
OK. Our house is OK,” Eric emergency responders.
Arneson said. Owner Keith Slocum said
The couple bought their Thursday that “it looked like
home in 1972 and had at- a Third World country” in
tended church with John the days after the disaster
McManigal, who died in but since then crews have
the mudslides. made significant progress
“He was the rock of our clearing roads. He’s eager
church,” Pamela Arneson to learn when neighboring
said. Authorities warned businesses will be allowed
Pamela Arneson writes down the food that was lost as Eric Arneson, 72, cleans out the refrigerator that the returns would be to reopen. “We really could
after returning to their home for the first time in almost two weeks in Montecito, Calif., Thursday, Jan.
25, 2018. Emotional residents are trickling back to the California coastal town that was devastated gradual and many people use something definitive,”
two weeks ago by mudslides that killed at least 21 people and destroyed more than a hundred would have to stay out un- he said. “I don’t know what
homes. til at least the end of the the benchmarks are for
(AP Photo/Daniel Dreifuss) month. The town’s narrow why they open some parts
By KRYSTA FAURIA by mudslides that killed at about 1,600 people in the streets were clogged with and don’t open others.”
Associated Press least 21 people and de- hillside enclave of Monteci- bulldozers and utility trucks The majority of residents
MONTECITO, Calif. (AP) — stroyed more than a hun- to, while thousands of oth- as crews remove mud and and businesses in and
Emotional residents are dred homes. ers still waited for word that boulders and rebuild drain- around the town of about
trickling back to the Califor- Santa Barbara County of- it was safe to return. age pipes and power lines. 9,000 people have yet
nia coastal town that was ficials finally lifted evacu- When he got back home. Utility workers are also busy to receive an all-clear
devastated two weeks ago ation orders this week for Eric Arneson, 72, dug restoring water and sew- advisory.q

Engineer says he misjudged train location in fatal wreck

By SALLY HO restriction was at milepost main north-south highway. had officially operated it ed.
Associated Press 19.8 and he planned to NTSB board member Bella going southbound on the The engineer said he didn’t
SEATTLE (AP) — An engineer start braking about a mile Dinh-Zarr said days after route. feel distracted by the con-
told investigators he mis- before reaching it. the wreck that the loco- Three people were killed ductor being in the loco-
judged the location of an But he said he didn’t see motive’s emergency brake and dozens of others were motive.
Amtrak train before it de- a marker at milepost 18 or went off automatically and hurt Dec. 18 on the route Neither man has been iden-
railed in Washington state a nearby 30 mph speed was not manually activat- from Tacoma to Portland, tified by NTSB. However, the
on a new high-speed route warning sign. The engineer ed by the engineer. Oregon. The train was car- summary says the engineer
while traveling at nearly 80 said he then misinterpreted The summary says the engi- rying 85 passengers and was a 55-year-old man
mph — more than twice another signal at the 19.8 neer was qualified to oper- crew members as it made hired by Amtrak in 2004 as
the speed limit around a milepost. ate the train on that new its inaugural run along the a conductor before being
curve, the National Trans- He said he applied the stretch of track and had fast, new 15-mile (24-kilo- promoted to locomotive
portation Safety Board dis- brake as soon as he saw a completed at least seven meter) bypass route. engineer in 2013.
closed Thursday. 30 mph sign at the start of observational trips and The summary said the engi- The conductor, a 48-year-
In an NTSB summary of in- the curve, but the train de- three trips during which he neer and conductor were old man, said the ride
terviews with the engineer railed seconds later as it en- operated the train in the in the lead locomotive as marked the first time the
and conductor on duty dur- tered the 30 mph zone and five weeks before the de- the conductor underwent two men had worked to-
ing the deadly crash, the plunged off an overpass railment. training and familiarized gether and there was mini-
engineer said he knew the and onto busy Interstate The fatal trip marked the himself with the new route. mal conversation between
curve with a 30 mph speed 5— the Pacific Northwest’s second time the engineer Both said they felt well-rest- them.q