Residents with disabilities left without electricity in life-threatening conditions after derecho

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- When Thursday's storm knocked out power at Independence Hall, an affordable independent living complex for seniors and those with disabilities, residents in the complex's more than 260 units battled many challenges.

Some residents were trapped in electric beds, and others were unable to leave their units after their electric wheelchairs and scooters died. There was no longer power for electric oxygen compressors, and with phones dead, they could not call for help.

The Houston Fire Department had to assist at least two residents Sunday who could not secure transportation to dialysis and missed appointments. Houston Mayor John Whitmire said they were also dehydrated.

Whitmire accused building ownership and management of "abandoning" residents, like Thomas Wilkin, after the storm.

Wilkin, a double-amputee, was trapped in his second-story apartment after his electric wheelchair died until power was restored Sunday.

"I was wondering how we were going to survive. We were getting low on food, and the food we did have went bad. We had no way of cooking," Wilkin said.

ABC13 contacted the head of the building's non-profit management group.

He explained that the complex was established in the 1970s under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Section 236 program. The loan matured after four decades.

In 2002, the City of Houston granted the property a $2 million renovation loan through HUD's HOME partnership.

The complex has a standing agreement with the city, which ABC13 reviewed. Residents are required to be low-income, disabled, or elderly.

However, because the loan matured and the facility is considered independent living, management said they are required to provide residents with no more protections than a traditional lease agreement would in the event of an emergency.

"The only thing I could recommend personally is that this be a handicapped facility (with) backup generators," Wilkin said.

Despite receiving funds from the federal and city governments to house hundreds of vulnerable Houstonians, complex management said they are not legally obligated to have generators. They also did not check on residents after the storm, citing the same reason.

Lone Star Legal Aid, a tenant's rights group, told ABC13 they are reviewing residents' cases individually, looking at possible exceptions and protections.

"It'll be curious for us to do a very deep dive into each individual tenant situation," Dana Karni, the Lone Star Legal Aid litigation director, said.

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