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Houston power outages: Residents of Fifth Ward affordable housing complex in the dark again following storms

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Residents of an affordable housing complex in Houston’s Fifth Ward say they have to throw away food for the second time this month following a storm.

New Hope Housing Sakowitz is located in the 2400 block of Sakowitz Street and has been without power since Tuesday afternoon.

One resident, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation from management, said he and his neighbors were scrambling to save the meat many of them just purchased.

“We got the barbecues going,” he said. “It’s the only way we can eat.”

He told ABC13 that much of the food recovered Wednesday was purchased to replace food lost due to derecho power outages earlier this month.

This man said they were without power for five days after that storm.

Another resident told ABC13 the power was out for four days.

SEE ALSO: 1 week later, CenterPoint customers are frustrated to see their homes still without power: “It’s sickening”

Although CenterPoint promised last week that all customers’ power would be restored by Wednesday, ABC13 is still receiving calls from people in north Houston saying the power is still out.

New Hope Housing told ABC13 it was out for two days due to the derecho.

The City of Houston Department of Housing and Community Development gave Eyewitness News the same timeline as New Hope Housing.

This municipal department provided $3 million in funding to New Hope Housing Sakowitz in 2009.

The man who did not want to be identified told ABC13 the management company provides pizza and soda, but he wishes they did more.

“Our team continues to stand alongside residents to meet their needs,” New Hope Housing said in a statement.

Mark Bock lives on the second floor of the building and had to go down the stairs because the building’s elevator was out of service.

He uses a wheelchair and one of his neighbors had to take him down the stairs alongside him.

“I walked down the stairs with my butt,” Bock said. “It’s frustrating.”

When ABC13 asked CenterPoint Energy for a timeline for power restoration, they said they would look into the matter and return to our request. But this was not yet the case at the time of publication of this article.

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