HOUSTON \u2013 Residents living in a northwest Harris County trailer community with more than 150 families say they were without gas service for nearly two weeks, leaving them unable to heat their homes, cook meals or take hot showers.<\/p>\n
The prolonged outage forced families to find alternative ways to stay warm and meet basic needs as temperatures dropped across the Houston area.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, the generator\u2019s here, but it doesn\u2019t help with gas,\u201d said resident Joseph Workman, who lives in the community with his family of six. \u201cWe have a flat top outside to cook because our stove doesn\u2019t work. And we got firewood that we\u2019ve been trying to stock up on for the fireplace to keep the kids warm.\u201d<\/p>\n
Workman said his family spent the past two weeks sleeping together in the living room, relying on a space heater and a fireplace for warmth.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo weeks, no gas,\u201d he said. \u201cWe had water interruptions all last week, and we had another one yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because many of the homes in the community rely almost entirely on gas, residents said the outage meant no working stoves, no hot water and no heat. They say they were first notified of a utilities interruption in early December, but service had not been restored for nearly two weeks.<\/p>\n
Community showers were set up to help residents in the meantime, but people said they were often closed early and unreliable.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hot showers have been hit and miss,\u201d Workman said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s only been here since this last Friday.\u201d<\/p>\n