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El Cajon:

Frustrated with a lack of answers from law enforcement officials, many evacuees have developed a new trick for checking -- maybe -- whether their home survived. They call their house every hour or so, and as long as they get the answering machine, they assume it's still standing. It's a simple ploy that refugees have passed through word of mouth.

"It's a good sign, right?" said Linda Stillwell, who evacuated from Ramona on Monday night and is staying with her husband, Bob Stillwell, and her dog, Gidget, at a hotel in El Cajon. "So I just keep on calling."

-- Scott Gold