CROSBY, Texas — Thousands of Houston-are CenterPoint Energy customers were without power on Sunday as temperatures hit record levels. At one point, more than 30,000 customers were powerless.
One local family has a disabled son who has to stay cool in order to survive. Going without power isn't just an inconvenience, it's also a serious health issue because David Anzaldua is a quadriplegic.
"It's miserable. It's hot," David said. "I was in a car accident ... severed my spinal cord and I don’t feel anything below (there). I don’t regulate my body temperature."
David and his family live in Crosby and said they’re fed up due to the repeat power outages. The power has cut out during the hottest part of the day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The family said the outages have been happening weekly.
“Two hours later and it's 90 degrees in the house. It gets hot quick,” David said.
The extreme temperatures can cause David serious health problems.
“It causes my blood pressure to sky-rocket ... it’s been up in the 180s. It will go up and go down and brutal to the body,” David said.
David's family said it happens way too often. His mother said she had to purchase a generator a few weeks ago to keep her son cool, but even with it, the house is still too hot.
While a KHOU 11 News crew was at the Anzaldua home on Sunday, the family had to move David out because his body temperature was over 99 degrees. It was just too hot for him to handle.
In the end, they just want CenterPoint to fix the problem because ultimately, David’s life depends on it.
“That is not what you paid for ... hopefully, they can find the solution to the problem,” David said.
CenterPoint did not respond to a request for an update as to what's causing the repeat outages.