HOUSTON — UPDATE (11:40 a.m., May 19) Power was restored to an assisted living facility in the Heights after Thursday's storms knocked it out. It was a story that KHOU 11 reporter Julissa Garza brought you at 10 p.m. Saturday. KHOU 11 was the only station at Houston Heights Tower, showing you the issue affecting more than 200 residents. By Sunday morning, power was back on. Reporter Katiera Winfrey, who was following up on the story, said power came back on at around 10:50 a.m.
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For days, the roughly 230 residents who live at the independent senior living facility were without power. On Saturday, many were spotted sitting outside in the shade or on the first floor trying to keep cool.
“Oh, it’s been awful,” said Dale, one of the residents there.
Dale lives on the seventh floor.
“You can't stay up there. You have to come down and there's a breeze down here. You can always find a cool spot,” Dale said.
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Houston City Council member Abbie Kamin told KHOU 11 News she received calls from people expressing their concerns for the residents, so she came to take a look.
“This is absolutely unacceptable. I'm extremely concerned for the welfare of our residents,” Kamin said.
Kamin said the residents haven’t had a hot meal since Thursday, so she made a call to CrowdSource Rescue, a Houston-based nonprofit.
“We had a number of volunteers who were able to come to and help deliver all this food,” said Matthew Marchetti with CrowdSource Rescue. “And so we are planning on delivering it, lunch and dinner until further notice.”
Residents like Dale are thankful and taking the meal as a sign.
“I'm just hoping that means the lights are going to come back on and stay,” said Dale.
The Houston Fire Department also paid a visit to make sure residents are okay.
“If we can provide food, if we can provide water, a bit of cooling in these areas that we can, prevent the need to have emergency calls come out,” said Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña.
There is a generator that helps provide some relief to the residents.
“That is powering the water pumps. So, they do have running water. The elevators are working again behind me, you see a lot of seniors in wheelchairs,” Kamin said.
But while plates of food were being made, the generator flicked on and off more than once. Leaders are hoping they can find a temporary solution.
“We're able to step in and get help in as quickly as possible. but, you know, you got to see it to believe it. And, we have a lot of work to do,” said Kamin.
These leaders want to remind the community to take care of each other as many wait for power to come back on
“We're about 75% above our normal call volum end it's going to continue because the temperatures are going to continue to rise,” said Chief Peña. “And so, we're doing everything we can to try and ensure that we that we prevent some of those medical issues.”
KHOU 11 News spoke with a manager at the facility who was actively working with Kamin and Peña to find solutions to help the residents.
KHOU 11 News also asked CenterPoint Energy for the status on when power will be restored at the facility, but as of our 10 p.m. Saturday story, we had not heard back.
Kamin is urging residents to call if they know of a senior center that needs help.