Residents Return After Explosion Rocks South Philadelphia Street
By Tim Jimenez, Oren Liebermann
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - On the day after an explosion rocked a South Philadelphia street, some residents who were forced out of their homes returned.
Bob Happy and his wife moved to the 400 block of Daly Street about a month ago, coming from Michigan to be closer to his daughter.
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"We were very happy and just getting settled in," said Happy.
Then the explosion, right across from his new home.
"It was just rubble and chaos," he said.
He and his wife stayed with his daughter overnight. And as soon as he was able to get home, in the evening, Bob got the broom out.
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"Just looking around here, we've got glass. I noticed a couple of screens are blown off the house and things like that. Just noticed in our backyard there was even glass shrapnel," he said.
Even with the memory of what happened still alive, the fenced off rubble across the street, Bob says he has no regrets calling Daly Street his home.
What was supposed to be a beautiful Monday turned into one Carol McKenna will never forget.
"And I heard a loud explosion and my house shook, my windows rattled," said McKenna.
She lives here on the 400 block of Daly Street, across the street from the explosion. She had to leave for a night, the Red Cross paying for her hotel and the Red Paw emergency relief team watching her cat Molly. More than 24 hours later, she returned, and reunited with her feline friend.
"And they took good care of her and they just brought her back. I'm just so happy to be home," said McKenna.
Grateful to be here, but not settled in yet.
"Do I feel safe here? I feel like I'm home but it's going to take me some time to be home," she said.
There are still a few homeowners here who are not allowed back in, those are immediately adjacent to the explosion site. The question of when they'll be allowed back in, just one of many questions here along Daly Street Tuesday night.
