State form prioritizes chronically ill patients for power restoration, but does it?

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- If you have a chronic illness or caring for an elderly parent in your home who needs electricity for survival, the state of Texas provides a form that you and your family doctor can file with your electricity provider.

Once signed and submitted with physician approval, it should give your loved ones with a critical medical condition priority during power outages.

That's what 100-year-old Abe Schnitzer was hoping for when Hurricane Beryl hit Monday morning. The World War II veteran has lived with his 74-year-old daughter in Meyerland for more than 30 years. Every year, Dinah Schnitzer works with her dad's doctors to make sure the forms are submitted properly.

Yet, five days after Beryl, they are still without power.

"Just turn the electricity on, where I'm living, as much as they can do for the whole city," Abe, who spoke to ABC13 from a neighbor's home which was outfitted with a generator, said. "I wouldn't have made it two days without the neighbors."

Another homeowner captured the moment their transformer blew, and Rodney Hill remembers it.

"All of a sudden, a limb from a pine tree fell on this wire, and it exploded," Hill, who lives a few doors down from the Schnitzer's, recalled. "It did three explosions in a row."

Dinah Schnitzer was hopeful their electricity would be restored sooner, because she has been so diligent in sending those yearly forms. Her father has a pacemaker, and at his age, he can't tolerate a long time in the heat.

"They keep telling us they're coming. Meanwhile, they haven't come," Abe, who turns 101 next month, said. "Of course, I'm looking forward to going back to my home, where I've been for 30 years."

The PUC specifically states the state form doesn't promise faster electricity service, and that patients need to secure reliable electricity prior to possible storms. However, with more than half the region already with their power back, the family figured their street would have made the list by now.

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