Evacuees losing power, again
10:54 PM CDT on Thursday, August 24, 2006
By Vicente Arenas / 11 News
There’s an organized effort to force Katrina evacuees to pay their own way or leave.
KHOU-TV
Troy Nelson doesn't know what to do or where to turn.
Utility workers turned off the power at more than 100 homes Friday and 11 News learned that thousands more are on the list.
In the heat of the day our cameras found several central air units had no power.
“We can’t live in the heat. It’s hot. Look how I’m sweating right now,” said Katrina evacuee Jerome White.
White was of one hundreds of Katrina evacuees whose electricity was cut off today.
“They came out and they cut everybody’s electricity off. They had about 16 people outside this morning. Worrying about where they gonna be at and worrying about what they are going to do about their meat and their freezers going bad right now,” said White.
“It’s very frustrating,” said evacuee Troy Nelson.
Nelson lost power too after the federal government said it would no longer pay utility bills for evacuees.
“I don’t know what to do,” he said.
The Joint Hurricane Housing Task Force says thousands of others will also have their electricity cut off.
“Today is the beginning of a series of cutoffs that will be occurring over the next several months,” said Cindy Gabriel, of the task force.
The task force says evacuees must find some way to pay bills the federal government once covered.
“We can’t because the money will not be there. The funding is by law for one year,” said Nelson.
That’s about how long Nelson’s been in this southeast side apartment.
He says he can’t work because of an injury and began faxing FEMA for more help, but isn’t sure it’ll come.
The Joint Hurricane Housing Task Force says that by the end of next month, as many as 4,000 people will no longer get help with utility bills.
On the one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina many victims of the storm will once again find themselves dealing with another storm of problems.
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I can't believe it. These folks are gonna have to pay their own way?
What's the world coming to?
10:54 PM CDT on Thursday, August 24, 2006
By Vicente Arenas / 11 News
There’s an organized effort to force Katrina evacuees to pay their own way or leave.
KHOU-TV
Troy Nelson doesn't know what to do or where to turn.
Utility workers turned off the power at more than 100 homes Friday and 11 News learned that thousands more are on the list.
In the heat of the day our cameras found several central air units had no power.
“We can’t live in the heat. It’s hot. Look how I’m sweating right now,” said Katrina evacuee Jerome White.
White was of one hundreds of Katrina evacuees whose electricity was cut off today.
“They came out and they cut everybody’s electricity off. They had about 16 people outside this morning. Worrying about where they gonna be at and worrying about what they are going to do about their meat and their freezers going bad right now,” said White.
“It’s very frustrating,” said evacuee Troy Nelson.
Nelson lost power too after the federal government said it would no longer pay utility bills for evacuees.
“I don’t know what to do,” he said.
The Joint Hurricane Housing Task Force says thousands of others will also have their electricity cut off.
“Today is the beginning of a series of cutoffs that will be occurring over the next several months,” said Cindy Gabriel, of the task force.
The task force says evacuees must find some way to pay bills the federal government once covered.
“We can’t because the money will not be there. The funding is by law for one year,” said Nelson.
That’s about how long Nelson’s been in this southeast side apartment.
He says he can’t work because of an injury and began faxing FEMA for more help, but isn’t sure it’ll come.
The Joint Hurricane Housing Task Force says that by the end of next month, as many as 4,000 people will no longer get help with utility bills.
On the one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina many victims of the storm will once again find themselves dealing with another storm of problems.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I can't believe it. These folks are gonna have to pay their own way?
What's the world coming to?