San Francisco students take cover for the 'Great California ShakeOut'
SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- Students across the Bay Area dropped, took cover and held on as part of the Great California Shakeout on Thursday.
The drill hits especially close to home in San Francisco's Marina district where there was so much death and destruction during the Loma Prieta Earthquake 25 years ago.
At 10:16 a-m, the assignment at Marina Middle School was drop, cover and hold.
Mayor Ed Lee ducked under a desk with the students. They then evacuated the building.
It's familiar territory for the Mayor who was working for Mayor Art Agnos in 1989 when the Loma Prieta Earthquake hit.
"Within hours, he had us deployed right here on this playground, right on this asphalt to open up a service center," said Lee.
Devastating images, like these, from the Marina on that day are fresh in the minds of people who lived through it.
Paul Bosco's family has owned Lucca Delicatessen on Chestnut street for three generations. He says they've made changes over the past 25 years and more are coming.
"We did have to strengthen the front of the building and we're also due for a soft story retrofit next year," said Bosco.
Lorraine McCleod had only been teaching at Marina Middle School for a few months when the quake hit.
"We had a phone tree for emergencies and they called and said the school is fine but the neighborhood is devastated. We were gone for a week. The Marina kids and teachers were gone for a week because they were using our classrooms as shelters," said McCleod.
25 years later, her class hosted the Mayor for the Great California Shakeout.
The drill goes beyond surviving an earthquake. Students and staff also practiced pick-up procedures and other preparation measures.
"I've got some stuff to do when I get home. I never really thought about there's not going to be places where there's fresh food anymore, you need to have your own food," said Peter Sage, 6th grade student.
VIDEO:Students participate in Great Shakout event at San Jose Tech Museum
