HOUSTON – For the last three months, the people who live near a leaning power pole have been calling and calling and calling for help.
But to this day, they weren’t able to get any help from CenterPoint Energy.
That’s the story that Deniece Christ-Rice shared with KPRC 2′s Gage Goulding after she called asking for help.
“When they were finished, they just left this huge pile of dirt and that was it,” she said of the power pole outside her Third Ward townhome community.
The utility pole was installed just a few weeks before Hurricane Beryl leveled a blow to Houston’s electric infrastructure that resulted in a record power outage.
“Right after the hurricane, we all noticed that it was leaning towards this house,” she said.
That utility pole now posed more of a problem than a fix to its predecessor.
“It doesn’t look and it doesn’t feel safe,” said Christ-Rice.
By our measurements, the pole is leaning roughly 9° toward the townhomes. The lean is evident to the naked eye.
“We’re in hurricane season And so it’s just going to take another storm, a wind to blow into this house,” Christ-Rice said.
She and her neighbors have tried calling CenterPoint time and time again, but haven’t received an answer.
Only recently did she get assigned a case number. When she called for an update, she says the representative told her the pole was evaluated and deemed to be safe and on a list for repair.
“No, I don’t think it is safe,” she said. “There’s not even an ETA, so a wait list could be ten years from now. It could be two years from now.”
KPRC 2 asked CenterPoint about the leaning pole. Within hours, a spokesperson said a crew would be there on Friday to make repairs.
They also provided great resources in case you have a similar power pole problem. We’ve outlined those in this story here.