Houston woman says burglar, not Beryl, shattered her home's glass door in storm's wake

Miya Shay Image
Thursday, July 11, 2024
Burglar, not Beryl, shatters woman's glass door in storm's wake
Westbury resident Victoria Ma said she returned home from a friend's place to find she had been burglarized. She said her home lost power after Beryl.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- It's a sad reality that whenever there's a natural disaster, someone will try to take advantage of the situation. That happened overnight at Victoria Ma's Westbury home.

"You can see the point of entry is here," Ma pointed to her shattered back sliding glass door.

On Monday, Hurricane Beryl pulled Ma's fence apart, leaving her among the 2.2 million people in our region without power. She spent Tuesday night at a friend's house, returning Wednesday morning to find windows and doors shattered.

"I feel like I should be angry. But I'm so tired from the last few days that I just don't have enough energy to be angry anymore. I'm hot, I'm tired, it's just been a lot. Maybe it will hit more later," Ma told Eyewitness News reporter Miya Shay for a story ONLY ON 13.

Ma believes a giant tree on the backside of a neighborhood ditch that crushed a CenterPoint caused her electricity woes. That mess is right behind Linda Anselmo's fence, who was all too eager to show ABC13.

"I don't think we'll have power for three weeks," Anselmo said, clearly frustrated by the mass of wires, trees, and leaves dangling along the ditch.

"It's pitch black out here. They know the alarms aren't working. And most of the people are gone because the houses are 85 degrees," she said.

This Westbury neighborhood isn't alone. The Houston Police Department said officers arrested four people accused of breaking into two different businesses while the power was out on Tuesday. That included a beauty supply shop on Cullen Boulevard. The shop's back open with security and electricity.

But for Ma, her repairs were just beginning, and she's worried the suspects will never get caught.

"Just kicking us while we're down? The worst of the worst. You know, I went to file a police report, and while I was there, another lady came in with the same issue," she sighed.

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