Fifth Ward complex deals with another power outage: 'It's frustrating'

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Residents at an affordable housing complex in Houston's Fifth Ward say they're having to throw away food for the second time this month following a storm.

New Hope Housing Sakowitz is located in the 2400 block of Sakowitz Street and has been without power since Tuesday afternoon.

One resident, who wished to remain unidentified out of fear of retribution from management, said he and his neighbors are scrambling to save the meat many of them just purchased.

"We've got the barbecue pits cranked up," he said. "That's the only way we can eat."

He told ABC13 that a lot of the food being salvaged on Wednesday was purchased to replace food that was lost due to power outages from the derecho earlier in the month.

That man said they were without power for five days following that storm.

Another resident told ABC13 the power was out for four days.

SEE ALSO: 1 week after, CenterPoint customers frustrated on homes still without power: 'It's sickening'

Although CenterPoint promised last week that all customers' power would be back on by Wednesday, ABC13 is still receiving calls from folks on Houston's northside about their power still being down.

New Hope Housing told ABC13 it was out for two days as a result of the derecho.

The City of Houston's Housing and Community Development Department gave Eyewitness News the same timeline as New Hope Housing.

That city department provided $3 million in funding to New Hope Housing Sakowitz in 2009.

The man who didn't want to be identified told ABC13 that the management company has been providing pizza and soda, but he wishes they'd do more.

"Our team continues to remain onside with residents to assist their needs," New Hope Housing said in a statement.

Mark Bock lives on the property's second floor and had to slide down the stairs because the building's elevator is out of commission.

He uses a wheelchair, and one of his neighbors had to bring it down the stairs alongside him.

"I scooted my butt down the stairs," Bock said. "It's frustrating."

When ABC13 asked CenterPoint Energy for a timeline on when power would be restored, they said they'd look into it and get back to our request. But that hadn't happened when this article was published.

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