Houstonians frustrated with extended power outages
HOUSTON - More than a million Houstonians woke up this morning cold inside their own homes and questioning why the power failed merely hours into a cold snap. With temperatures well below freezing, no power, which means no heat in freezing temperatures has been absolutely unbearable for many.
It seems firewood has become the new must-have and when you look closely at one picture that was sent to me you’ll see one Houston Grandfather’s flames have become dual purpose. He's keeping his family warm and actually cooking breakfast in the fireplace.
Millions of Houstonians have had to get creative in the bitterly cold weather in the dark with no heat. "On the open flame we boiled the water and went kind of old school to make the coffee," explains Erica Rouse who’s been without electricity since Monday.
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So many are surviving these historic Houston low temperatures the best way they can. "I have some decorative logs. I took those out and just turned the gas on," says Rouse as she, her mom, and sister warm by the fireplace.
"I’m just bundling up. I have my skull cap. I have my sweater. I have a big ski jacket," explains her husband Bobby Rouse who’s wearing all of those things inside his own home to stay warm.
"Outside I have an area where we have some milk and some eggs and some things we really wanted to keep cold. Two calls have come in from family members who not only had their pipes burst but their ceilings have now caved in, flooded in," says Mrs. Rouse.
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Many feel all of this could have been avoided with the building of a better energy grid infrastructure a long time ago. "We’re kind of suffering what seems needlessly when it feels like we should have some people that could have figured this out and I know it takes a lot of revenue to change infrastructure," says Mrs. Rouse.
In this critically cold weather where people are dying many Houstonians want to know why simply having customers use the product they pay for, their heat, has caused such a catastrophic failure. "If we have learned anything over the years it should be to expect the unexpected.
The Harvey flood, the pandemic, things that we used to say oh that’s never happened before we’re now knowing those things happen. So prepare for it," adds Mrs. Rouse who along with hundreds of thousands of others could be stuck another night or two in the dark and the bitter cold without electricity.
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