response resource fair, where L.A. County’s Department of Economic Opportunity collaborated with other county, state and federal agencies to provide impacted businesses and their employees with help and information.

And many needed it.

More than 60 Utilimaster workers attended the fair. They were informed that Tuesday was their last day of work — the result of damage that could take months to fix, L.A. County officials said.

Other workers were worse off by the disaster, including more than 50 undocumented workers, officials said. According to Anai Palacios with the L.A. County Office of Immigrant Affairs, undocumented workers were employed by Montebello businesses through a third party agency.

Following the incident and without warning, the agency dropped the workers as clients as the companies declared business was closed, Palacios said, adding that many were quietly let go without severance and still awaiting their final paychecks.

All told, according to attendance data provided by the L.A. County’s Office of Economic Opportunity, 228 workers and 11 business owners sought information during Tuesday’s event.

Officials noted the worst part of the physical damage wasn’t visibly apparent. Much of the building debris, especially the old roofing, housed the toxic mold asbestos. This surprise danger spurred calls to the Air Quality Management District by business owners.

“I saw the whole yard was a mess with the wood,” said Mansour Azizian, owner of Atlas Ice Cream & Food Wholesale Inc. “We cleaned up and I had to call the agency for the environmental and they told me I had to call one of the agency from FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) to come and see if it has asbestos or not. That’s the reason we keep all this trash here. My main concern is the debris, because I have to get the OK for an OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) if it’s hazardous material or not.”

The extra steps in recovery create more time that a business remains closed and more time workers are without their jobs.

Despite the dire concern about employment in the area, officials were buoyed by various agencies coming together on what has become a tornado recovery relief effort in Southern California.

Booths lined the inside of The Ark Montebello, offering resources from emergency grants, loans and unemployment information.

“I mean, I think what we saw is everybody came together in such a short period of time,” said Joseph Palombi, director of Planning and Community Development in Montebello. “For me, it was a beautiful thing to see. You really see the good, you know, humanity. Everybody just wants to help come together. And that’s what we experienced. And it really feels like a great thing.”

The offices in attendance at the resource fair included:

• L.A. County Department of Public Works.

• L.A. County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs.

• L.A. County Office of Immigrant Affairs.

• L.A. County assessor.

• L.A. County Internal Services Department.

• L.A. County Department of Social Services.

• L.A. County Small Business Services.

• L.A. County Department of Economic Opportunity.

• California Department of Insurance.

• City of Montebello- Community Development and Building.

• City of Montebello- AQMD.

• East Los Angeles AJCC.

• EDD Workforce Services.

• EDD Unemployment Insurance.

• Covered California.

• L.A. County Economic Development Corp.

• The Maravilla Foundation.

To learn more about unemployment benefit payments, go to edd.ca.gov/en/Unemployment/FAQ_Eligibility. For more information on undocumented workers rights, go to legalaidatwork.org/factsheet/undocumented-workers-employment-rights/.