Meeting underway for those impacted by Port Richmond explosion
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- An explosion in Port Richmond on the early hours of New Year's Day leveled three homes, damaged 40 others and injured five people.
The Port Richmond community is holding a meeting Wednesday night with the city and PGW about how this could happen?
Everyone CBS3 spoke to in the community said they have questions that need answers in order to move forward with repairs.
"They lost everything," Betty Markowski, a neighbor, said. "I lost nothing."
For the residents in Port Richmond, no matter what the damage was or was not, they all want to know what caused that explosion on New Year's day?
"Was it gas? Was it something else? I mean, with all this devastation I look around and I think, could it be something else?" Jean Morlando, a neighbor, said.
Kenneth Paul, the president of the neighborhood's civic association, hopes those questions are answered on Wednesday night by the city and PGW.
"Do I go after the city? Is the gas company responsible? It's just a never-ending thing and nobody knows what to do and who to turn to," Paul said.
Paul is one of the many neighbors who also survived a similar explosion back in 1999.
It leveled three homes just one block over on Gaul Street.
"I've been here 30-plus years," Paul said. "My own personal homes has had three gas leaks that I was unaware of. Oher people around here have had a lot of it. These lines are old. Mothing has ever been replaced."
"Our best friends had their home destroyed the same way twenty years ago," Markowski said.
"When it happens once, alright maybe it's an accident," City councilmember Mark Squilla said. "Twice maybe there's something wrong."
Squilla said the city is committed to helping all those impacted by this disaster no matter how long the process takes.
"There's still a person in critical condition," Squilla said. "Two people have broken backs, broken leg."
"Forty three properties are a lot of properties to be damaged by an explosion, so this is going to take a little bit of a while," he added.
The goal of the meeting is to start answering questions by residents.
Squilla said they may not have all the answers because it's still an ongoing investigation, but several city agencies are here to hopefully come up with solutions.
