Ridgecrest and Trona officials rush to fix roads, utilities after earthquakes
Officials in two damaged desert communities worked Sunday to repair roads and restore utilities following the largest earthquake in Southern California in nearly two decades.
Ridgecrest and neighboring Trona were hit hard by the magnitude 7.1 quake that rocked the remote Mojave Desert towns Friday.
Roads in Ridgecrest were in good shape, electricity was back on and the water system was working, said Jed McLaughlin, chief of police for the town of 28,000. Buses planned to run again Monday.
But many in nearby Trona, a gateway for Death Valley, didn't have water, and crews were still patching up cracked roads in the town of fewer than 2,000 people.
Residents lined up for free water that National Guard soldiers handed out at Trona High School.
