HOUSTON – During an exclusive interview with CenterPoint Energy’s CEO Jason Wells, KPRC 2′s Gage Goulding showed him a video of a woman who watched her sister gasp for air as she struggled to breathe during the massive power outage.
Pamela Jarrett, an artist, was among those who died in the days following Hurricane Beryl. Her sister, Janet Jarrett, shared Pamela’s story in an interview with KPRC 2′s Rilwan Balogun.
Pamela’s health had been fragile since suffering a brain aneurysm in 2019 after an assault, which was followed by a stroke that left her in need of constant care.
On the day of her death, Pamela began gasping for air. Janet tried to get help, but due to the power outage, she couldn’t get cell reception. She ran out into the streets, desperately seeking assistance. A neighbor eventually called 911, and an ambulance arrived, but Pamela couldn’t be saved.
“I was telling her I loved her, and then I’m going to be there for her,” Jarrett said. “Now I’m right behind [the ambulance.] Hold on. Don’t, don’t stop breathing, Pam. Don’t stop breathing. I kept telling her, I told her. Hold on.”
The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences says Pamela Jarrett died on July 11, 2024, at HCA Houston Healthcare due to hyperthermia. Her death was caused by environmental heat exposure due to the prolonged power outage during and after the storm, according to the Institute of Forensic Sciences.
Jason Well’s reaction to video
KPRC 2′s Goulding asked Wells did he think CenterPoint has to share the blame for those deaths?
Gage Goulding: “This is an interview that my colleague Rilwan Balogun did with a woman who lost a loved one. And I just want to I want to show this to you and genuinely get your raw and honest thoughts.”
Jason Wells: “I just... I’m so deeply sorry. Any loss of life is incredibly tragic, obviously, emotionally that, you know, that hits me in the stomach. And that is why we are so determined to build the grid that our customers expect and deserve.”
He said there’s not a day that passes where he personally or others at CenterPoint don’t think about the loss the community experienced, which drives their determination to create a more resilient coastal grid in the country.