HOUSTON – Fears of death and health concerns are growing in a local neighborhood that still doesn’t have power because of Hurricane Beryl.
Now, a man who is almost 90-years-old is making a desperate plea to CenterPoint after he says multiple crews showed up yesterday, but left without restoring power or offering an explanation
We’re told 77 homes in the Almeda Plaza area don’t have power. It’s an older neighborhood with a large elderly population. Many without generators, many in fear for their lives and not just because of the heat.
“You see those commercials ‘I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.’ That would be me,” said 86-year-old Julius Gordon, Jr.
Since the hurricane, it’s gotten a lot harder for him to get around his Almeda Plaza home.
With a walking cane in one hand and a flashlight in the other, at night, he does his best to move around in total darkness.
“Batteries are my life saver,” he said. “Normally I’ve got to watch out for what’s on the floor. I don’t want to slip on anything.”
And with extreme temperatures of at least 92 degrees in his home and no electricity for over a week, coolers have become a makeshift fridge when his daughter can find ice to bring him.
“Survival, survival,” he said.
Gordon is a cancer survivor battling heart disease, but like some others his age, he says he doesn’t feel comfortable temporarily moving out of his home. His daughter fears her daily efforts to bring him fans and other cooling mechanisms like spray misters may not be enough.
“He could still smother and die in here. I don’t want to plan a funeral for my father because of a hurricane you know if he’s made it this long this should not be it,” said, Denise Furlough, Gordon’s daughter.
Making matters worse they say, is the minimal communication from CenterPoint on when power will be restored.
“It’s high crime and there are sex offenders. Not that they’re going to try to get my dad, but it’s a high crime neighborhood. Period,” Furlough said.
Adding frustration to the grief, according to CenterPoint’s restoration tracker, Gordon’s address is in green which means “energized with potential localized outages.” We reached out to CenterPoint which said, “We are looking into restoration efforts in this area and will provide more information when available.”