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Katherine and Peggy had no idea of the magnitude of the quake or the extent of damage. What they did know was that they and their girls were safe together in the lower level of the Welles home, but they had no information about their spouses and sons.
They were stowed away in the garage for the time being, listening to the radio, which fortunately had new batteries. Jim had gotten into the habit of changing all batteries on the same day the time changed every year. “Spring forward, change batteries; fall backward, change batteries.” But there was a lot of static, so they couldn’t hear clearly what was going on, plus sirens were screaming all around the city, making listening to anything difficult - except their heartbeats.
They were all frightened, trying not to show it, bu
