and what you're looking at now is the cypress structure in oakland. apparently the death toll was the worse there. we'll have a full report coming up right now on the 10:00 news. it was a moment those who went through it will never forget. they can tell you right where they were when the loma prieta earthquake hit. >> there's a car right there. it was left empty. >> reporter: today we relive that day and the days that

followed. good evening and welcome to a second look. i'm julie haener. this month marks a devastating anniversary of the loma prieta earthquake. we begin this second look with dennis richmond and a look at how this bridge collapsed when the earth moved on that fateful day. >> i was out here in the backyard and all of a sudden everything started rocking and rolling. i looked up the street and i could see the top freeway pancaking down on top of the other one. >> there was this very loud noise and there was like screeching. and i could see the road rippling in front of me. almost like black ribbon coming at me. i couldn't figure out what was

going on. and i thought we were being gone. i thought that, you know something had happened and that our country was being bombed. i could see guardrails going down. and cars going off to the side. and i thought this is really serious. i didn't know what to do. i kept trying to pull over to the right. i kept feeling these waves. i would go up one and then down. when i looked up i just thought, i am not going to make it. so i just shut my eyes and that's the last thing i can remember. i dropped a pretty good distance. >> you can see the whole top deck of the structure lapse on to the lower deck. it's frightening to see what is below the upper deck. >> it was this huge dust cloud. and it was, kind of amazing. out of the dust spot came this highway patrolman out of the rubble. just riding out of the dust.

i never saw him again. i wondered who he was. but we asked him if he needed help and he said i sure do. >> we were the first ones on the scene. and we knew that there had to be somebody on the roadway. but we didn't have the capabilities of getting up there because we didn't have a truck. >> so i came back here and i got this old loader machine. i got my loader and i went down there and started pushing all of that concrete out of the way. >> you had all the smoke coming out of the upper part of the structure. then we started hearing people. moaning. but we had no way of really getting up there. because everybody was pretty upset, up tight because we could feel people and we

couldn't get up to them. >> people came from the neighborhood. lots and lots of people came. and it was just swimming with people. everybody just climbed right up there and you know you never knew if it was going to fall down the next minute. >> after the car came over and i regained consciousness i was so sticky and wet and i couldn't figure out why and it was because i was covered in blood. and my eye was bleeding all over. i had gone to my stick shift. finally they got some sort of a crow bar or something to get the door open and a marine as i understand helped pull me out. >> this was commute time. and normally during that time of day. you would have hundreds of cars in there. some with two, three, four people. and looking down, it just seemed impossible that anyone

could get stuck in between the levels and survive. the damage was just so incredible to see. we were so stunned. >> this is truly one of the most depressing frightening sights one can possible imagine. there are many wrecked vehicles. people standing around dazed and confused. >> reporter: trapped survivors waited for hours for rescuers to arrive. among them tim. >> i could hear sirens. i didn't know it was an earthquake and i didn't know it was as big as it was. and i thought just the freeway had collapsed just on me. i thought a piece just fell. just on myself. and so i didn't think there was anybody else. i could hear these sirens coming and i thought great. help is on its way. i really can't do anything. but they kept stopping. they would stop a good mile away it sounded like.

>> we had about a 15-inch opening to get through. once you got down there there was car radios going. we could still hear some engines roaring. a couple of fires was still going underneath. he was about in the middle section. inches in a post. >> this one guy gets there. climbs up the thing which is a good 30 feet up. all you can see is just my butt. and it was a real tight little space. he looks in there and he says man you're never getting out of here. >> i guess tim was trapped in about this much space with a bunch of metal wrapped around him. and can you imagine tons of pressure on your thighs with the steering wheel. i mean he felt his legs were

cut off because he had no circulation. the thought in my mind was dying. i thought there's no way i am going to live through this. i thought my legs were cut off. there was a lot of blood. i just know i would not survive it. >> and he came and asked if we could cut his legs off. i said not yet. we'll wait for that later. >> about 20 something inches and coming down. so it was an eerie feeling. like well. if there's a big aftershock there's, there's nothing we can do about it. >> it was coming down inch by inch you know. settling down. >> i told another forklift driver to go to the -- and get a two by four. and he said well the gates are locked. i said well tear it down.

go get the two by fours. and he did. >> people kept coming from all over everywhere with all types of tools we could use. the heavy duty jack. all the lumber that was supplied. >> finally we had the jaws of life and that helped us stretch the vehicle against two pieces of concrete. >> we were able to stretch enough metal away from him to get him to come out. >> then there was just enough room for him to pull him out of the seat and put him over my chest. when we moved around, they had a back board waiting for him. they stuck him through the hole and off they went. >> it took us about 3-1/2 hours to get him out. >> it was just a bad scene. there was only two feet of room to work in. and we didn't have the

equipment at the start. still to come on a second look. >> from out of the rubble, days later a story of survival against the odds. >> and near the epicenter, san francisco struggled to cope with the aftermath. insurance companies are spending millions of dollars trying to mislead you about the effects of proposition 46. well here's the truth: 46 will save lives. it will save money too. i'm bob pack, and i'm fighting for prop 46 because i lost my two children to preventable medical errors and i don't want anyone else to lose theirs. the three provisions in 46 will reduce medical errors and protect patients. save money and save lives. yes on 46.

welcome back to a second look. tonight the loma prieta earthquake 25 years later. the massive 7.5 quake caused the upper deck of the structure to collapse trapping scores of people. 90 hours after that freeway collapsed, rescue crews pulled buck alvin helm from the wreckage. in 1989, ktvu's betty anne bruno followed his fight to

beat the odds. >> reporter: the cheer that greeted buck helm when he was pulled from the collapsed freeway october 21st echoed across the nation. here was a man who had survived insurmountable odds. and not only survived. as he was pulled out of the rubble, he waved. proving his spunk. >> he has a very strong will. he is not ready to die. he has too many things he has not done yet. if anybody could survive it would be him. >> reporter: in the weeks after his rescue, helm's progress was part of the news. his temperature changes, his iv. when he was transferred to kaiser a general care hospital people cheered at that positive sign. last friday helm's doctor issued an optimistic statement saying he might soon be taken

completely off his respirator that meant with no tubes down his throat he would be able to talk. to share his secrets of his survivor. but helm started gasping for air and a few moments later he was gone. helm often spoke of him but has had no statement since his death. their attorney says they are taking it well, considering. >> they're trying to pick up the pieces. and somehow they have the sense of, how can i put it to you. not a sense of responsibility but a, a sense of disappointment not only because they've lost, they've lost bob but they've lost a symbol. just like the public has, they've lost a symbol. >> reporter: helm was not ever fully aware of what people

thought of his survival. the cypress structure was california's first double decker freeway when it officially opened in 1957. even before the quake it was recognized that the structure was no longer up to modern seismic standards. 42 people were killed when the structure collapsed. the structure was eventually torn down. >> when we come back on a second look. >> there won't be any more christmases here. >> rob roth takes us to watsonville a town ravaged by the pummel. and buildings demolished in downtown santa cruz where several blocks of buildings sustained heavy damage.

watsonville was virtually a stone throw from the loma prieta earthquake. while most of the world focused on santa cruz, many people looked at how to put their lives back together. rob roth checked with them

after the quake. >> reporter: the marquee offers words of encouragement but it will take more than words. house after house on block after block in one section of town is in shambles. upstairs, downstairs on to front porches. at one poem -- home from a distance, it looks like people are having a yard sale but these are possessions salvaged from the earthquake. >> it's horrible. it really is. i've lived here all my life. i was just a kid when we moved in here. and i hated the place many times and i've loved it. and that's about it. oh this is ridiculous. that's my good buddy. he was kind of raised in this house too wasn't he. now don't you start. >> no words can describe it.

this was my whole life. because, it's been the family home. i mean, geez. it's like i told my cousin yesterday when she called. i said, she said how about the house, i said let me put it to you this way because this is where we have the holidays. i said let pháe put it this way -- i said let me put it this way. we won't be having christmas at this house. >> reporter: somehow she was the only fatality in watsonville. merchants moved out of the building including the owners of the bake right bakery a place mr. say was the best bakery in town. >> of course we're sad. we've been here over 30 years and it's going to be sad not to be here anymore. but nothing you can do about it. it's done. >> reporter: damage in watsonville has hit $200 million and rising. until tuesday much of the charm

centered around old town with buildings constructed more than 100 years ago. but in the end the charm was just not built to survive the quake. the quake has left an estimated 200,000 people homeless. many who are now pitching tents at the park are lining up to get food being given away by burger king. i'm standing near second base at the watson baseball field and the outfield is full of earthquake victims. people with families are trying to survive. the nighttime is the worse they say. especially when the aftershocks hit. >> at night it's too cold. and we have no, no good food and you know. anything like that. >> how are you children doing? >> i think it's okay now.

everything. but they're scared. >> my house fell. i had my daughter in there with my nephew. >> did everybody get out okay? >> everybody got out fine. >> what are you doing now? >> we're just trying to get things together. see what we can get because we don't have a house. >> where are you staying? >> well we're staying wherever we can. the last couple of days we've been staying outside. and we'll just see where we can go. >> people in watsonville even those now sleeping in parks say they're thankful. thankful their families are alive, safe and surviving. when we come back on a second look. the loma prieta quake demolished much of downtown santa cruz leaving the once picturesque mall looks like a bombed out war zone.

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the 7.1 loma prieta quake ripped through downtown santa cruz. dozens of buildings collapsed. most were built of unreenforced masonry. just blocks away from downtown a fire engulfed a home on myrtle street. more homes were damaged in santa cruz county than in san francisco. ktvu's lloyd lacuesta arrived in santa cruz the night of the quake and filed this report the next day. in downtown santa cruz, pacific garden mall and it's old brick buildings collapsed from the earthquake who's epicenter was just two miles away. >> we knew that the building down here could be problems. a lot of the facades have fallen down. several of the buildings have collapsed. >> the night was total darkness

for santa cruz. no power. by morning's light the damage was even more graphic. just about every one of the 200 restaurants and shops in the mall had damage. and there are fears that more aftershocks could cause the buildings to crumble even more. >> we're going to search every building that we feel needs to be searched to see if there was anybody in there. >> but you have no idea specifically that there are. >> no because it was a workday in the afternoon and obviously around 5:00 there could be people inside. so we need to check them all. >> reporter: dogs were brought in to search for possible survivors or victims. one of the dead was found in the rumble of this coffee shop and was feared that the store manager was still trapped inside. her friends kept a curb vigil hoping and praying that she had some what survived the night. and for those who had survived, today was an attempt to get needed supplies. they were long lines outside grocery stores that were open. the retto's were trying to fill people's grocery lists as best

as possible. water, candles and fire logs were premium aoeup tells. this -- were premium items. this store who had no electricity were giving away meat. the lines were long but people are grateful. >> two hours, that's not bad. they're giving free meat away. we're getting water. we're paying for it but it's here. >> reporter: today there were some causes to smile along the tragedy. kittens in a mall pet shop had survived and were playful though no one could get them out. today we spotted a home on fire. adding to the more than 300 houses that are destroyed. we haven't seen much of the devastation. which in many cases has been hard to get to the devastation.

but it's hard spread. and there's hundreds of homes in the devastation. the earth opened up creating a 1,000-foot long fisher and as deep as 7 feet. and this amazing crack in the earth runs right by the front door of john and frida's home of 23 years. a home that could have been swallowed up with a couple inside at the time. >> i couldn't grasp the whole thing. it was just too much really. i couldn't believe it. you know and right, right in our front yard. >> it sounded like it was the house. i had no idea this was taking place out here in the yard. no idea at all. i was quite shocked. like-- >> the whole area is sunk. this area here was the same level at that bank there. it's just straight across.

the whole thing sunk like a cave under there or something. >> it's amazing. >> this fisher is near the san andreas fault. but what is puzzling seismologists is that three miles from here there's a fisher like this one but it's near the sientiz fault. this fisher is at least 4 feet, 5 feet deep. >> this one too is at least 1,000 feet long. at one end of this fisher, two houses just crumbled. >> these are just two of the 300 homes that are totally destroyed in santa cruz county. 5,000 other residents are significantly damaged. 8,000 people are homeless. two thousand injured. for this kind of destruction the death toll is five. >> nine days after the tremor

hit. one of san francisco's most beloved land mark was knocked down. >> i am sad to see it go. it's a beautiful old building. maybe it's because i'm old, i like those beautiful old buildings. >> it's just really sad. it's been here a long time and shared a lot of good memories. worked in the cooper house. a lot of good friends, good friend. >> newspaper photographer chip sheer took these photos in santa cruz in the moments after the quake hit. we're reflecting on the quake 25 years later he wrote. the earthquake ripped the heart and soul out of downtown but it united santa cruz in a vision for the community. that's it for this week's second look. next sunday we continue our look back at the loma prieta quake with a focus on san francisco. although it was 60 miles from

the epicenter. the city suffered some of the most severe damage to buildings, bridges and freeways. we'll see you next week. i'm julie haener, good night.

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