Houstonians still grappling with damage from Storm Derecho

HOUSTON, Texas — Like many people in Houston, Sherri Wagner and her husband saw their home damaged by May’s windstorm.

“This is our garage and above our garage was my office plus storage, a bathroom and a small kitchen,” Wagner said. “We probably had a 60- to 70-foot tree cut right down the middle.”

Their backyard fence was knocked down by an AT&T pole.

“It was in our neighbor’s yard, and during the storm, the storm hit both yards,” Wagner said. “And there’s an easement that extends there, but the poles outside the boundary and then it’s all of AT&T’s equipment and fiber optic lines.”

This damage made it difficult for crews to clean up what the derecho storm left behind.

“They didn’t want to get too close because they didn’t know if they were, you know, live electrical wires or what,” Wagner said. “So, you know, our workers were staying away from that tree stump to avoid that kind of thing.”

Nearly a month later, the pole and the wires that came with it are still lying on the ground in his garden.

“The AT&T people go out, go out, take pictures and say, yes, this is our pole, this is our equipment,” Wagner said. “They’ll say, yeah, we’ll send our people to fix it tomorrow and it’s been three weeks, and no one’s coming. We can’t put the fence back up because the post and all that fiber optic wire and equipment is in the way.

Sherri said they did everything they could.

“I filed a complaint with the FCC and it got the attention of the president at AT&T headquarters,” Wagner said.

Despite all their phone calls and the FCC complaint, the pole is still there.

“We’re kind of stuck in limbo waiting for them to do their job,” Wagner said.

AT&T isn’t even their internet or cable provider, which makes things even more frustrating for the family.

“It’s been almost a month. And everyone seems to be doing their job.

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