A woman has been trapped inside her Texas home for five days after what she was told were live power lines fell on her property during a storm.
Natalie Washington and her grandson were trapped inside their home after extreme weather brought down a utility line across their property last Thursday.
High winds in Houston last week brought down the line and sparked a fire after it fell on a tree near the 67-year-old’s front yard, knocking out power.
The Houston Fire Department responded to the fire and quickly extinguished the flames, telling Washington to stay away from the wires in case they were live.
After leaving, Washington said firefighters put yellow tape around her house, leaving her too scared to leave the property or let her husband back inside.
Utility companies then ignored Washington’s pleas for help, leaving her trapped inside her home for nearly a week for fear she would die if she left.
High winds in Houston last week brought down the line and sparked a fire after it fell on a tree near the 67-year-old’s front yard, knocking out power.
Natalie Washington and her grandson, both seen, were trapped inside their home after a storm brought down a utility line across their property last Thursday.
Washington, who also has diabetes, feared the stress and heat would raise his blood pressure.
speaking to ABC13He said: ‘The firefighters told me not to touch the front door or walk because I don’t know where the electric current flows.
I’m too terrified. I’m not even going to try. When you know you’re trapped somewhere and you have no option to get out, it breaks you down.
“The only thing my husband could do was sit on the street and talk to me while I sat on the porch.”
Images captured by the outlet show cables strung along his driveway, front fence and part of his yard on Monday.
Washington told the outlet that he had called CenterPoint Energy dozens of times before they finally responded to his address on Monday to make repairs.
When repair crews arrived at the scene, they discovered that the line that had gone down was a telecommunications line and not live electricity.
Crews at the scene told ABC13 that firefighters would not have been able to distinguish what was a wire from a power line.
Washington, who also has diabetes, feared the stress and heat would raise his blood pressure.
Images captured by the outlet show cables strung along his driveway, front fence and part of his yard on Monday.
When repair crews arrived at the scene, they discovered that the line that had fallen was a telecommunications line and not live electricity.
In a statement, they said: ‘We sent a team to the scene. They assessed the situation and determined that the downed wire is a telecommunications line and not a live power line.
“Restoration work is underway to restore the outage affecting this customer.”
Washington is now happy to have power restored and his family can enter the property.
Nearly a million people were without power in Houston after last week’s bad weather.
On Monday, more than 350,000 homes across the city began the week without power.
The devastating storm that hit the area on Thursday broke windows, toppled trees and claimed at least seven lives.
U.S. Postal Service truck rolls over on its side at Bingle and Sowden intersection in Houston
A car lies under fallen bricks after a severe thunderstorm on Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston.
As a new week begins, temperatures rose to a high of around 90 degrees and introduced a new threat: oppressive, sticky conditions.
Thousands of homes were plunged into darkness after high-voltage transmission towers were smashed and power lines damaged.
CenterPoint deployed more than 7,000 workers to focus on 24/7 restoration efforts following the devastation.
In a news release, CenterPoint announced it remained on track to achieve “substantial completion of the restoration” Wednesday evening.
