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Elderly Katrina Evacuees Feeling Powerless
By Carolyn Campbell, 11 News
October 3, 2005
Martha Daniels said the power outage put her sick husband in danger.
An elderly New Orleans couple who evacuated to Houston after Hurricane Katrina is slowly rebuilding their life.
Martha Daniels and her husband lost their home and nearly everything inside in Hurricane Katrina. All they have left are a few family pictures.
The couple made it out of a Houston shelter and into an apartment. But now they must survive another crisis. Their power was shut off Friday.
"This is just the ice chest to keep some of the stuff cool for us to eat," said Martha Daniels. "I can't cook, use refrigerator, can't turn the air on."
No doubt, it's uncomfortable but Daniels says it's also life-threatening for her husband who is battling cancer.
"He needs the refrigerator for his medication and he also needs the air," said Mrs. Daniels.
"That's my biggest concern for my husband."
"It's been rough -- be in the dark and the heat," said William Daniels.
FEMA was paying her electric bill, but Daniels was supposed to transfer the service into her name. She admits she made a mistake.
She was hoping Reliant would get the power back on as quickly as possible, but they told her it would take three business days before power could be restored.
"It's a medical emergency. I think it was very insensitive of them," she said.
We contacted Reliant and asked them to take another look at her case. About an hour later, her power came back on.
"I thank God first. I thank you all, I thank everybody who helped get these lights on," said Mrs. Daniels. "Thank you so much."
Now Daniels can now turn her attention back to her husband's medical needs as they try to rebuild their lives.
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