East Harris County apartment residents deal with sweltering heat as power outage persists

HARRIS COUNTY, TX (KTRK) -- People living in several buildings at the Rollingwood Apartments in east Harris County have been without power since Saturday afternoon and are not looking forward to another scorching night.

Buildings toward the front of the complex still have power so some people were running extension cords to their neighbors. Some people opened windows for a stifling breeze and some chose to sit outside on the porch rather than inside.

"I go take a cold shower. Just stand under the water for a good hour or two. And then just get out," explained Deshawn Williams. His whole family is staying somewhere else.

"My momma, she can barely walk sometimes. She has to use a scooter to get around and a walker. Can't be walking around in this heat because she has diabetes," he said.

Jever Mejia's family was using buckets of ice water on their porch to try to cool down. They hardly slept on Saturday night.

"We had to take out one of the couches sleep on the porch cause then we start sweating in the middle of the night and it gets really hot," he said.

A Center Point Energy spokesperson says a crew went to the complex Sunday morning and found everything works on their end and the issue is with the equipment located on the property.

Mike Irwin, a spokesperson with the property management company, said he contacted an electrician after learning about the problem at 7:30 Saturday night. He said the part the electrician needs won't be in until Monday and he expects a repair crew on property at 7 a.m.

He promised to reimburse people for spoiled food.

In the meantime, people have to sweat it out for another night.

"I hope they get it turned back on by tomorrow 'cause I can't deal with this no more," Williams said.