One woman in her 80s tripped over another resident who had fallen on the landing in a steep stairwell. Others got disoriented, even in their own apartments, and cried out for help.
At least 20 seniors with wheelchairs and walkers were essentially trapped, in the dark, in a low-income apartment complex in Northern California during a two-day power shutoff aimed at warding off wildfires.
Residents of the Villas at Hamilton in Novato, north of San Francisco, say they were without guidance from their property management company or the utility behind the blackout as they faced pitch-black stairwells and hallways and elevators that shut down.
“We were surprised by how dark it was,” said Pamela Zuzak, 70, who uses a walker to get around. “There was nothing, nothing lit. It was like going into a darkroom closet, pitch black, you couldn’t see in front of you.”
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. shut off power to more than 2 million people over the weekend to prevent its equipment from sparking fires amid hot, dry gusts. It was just one of four pre-emptive rounds of shutoffs imposed by the utility this month.
Natasha Owens drops ‘TDS’ song and music video: ‘You tested positive’
Reporter’s Notebook: GOP bets on fraud crackdown as economic woes surge ahead of midterms
California election limbo fueled by 4 pressure points dragging out vote count, expert says
America at 250: The American Dream Still Begins With Marriage
Karen Read says she gets free meals and discounts everywhere after not guilty verdict
The People Connected to the New UFO Reveals Give Good Reason for Skepticism
DC Circuit grills DOJ over White House bid to continue building ballroom
Video shows Marine veteran wrestle armed teen to ground after alleged robbery attempt
Schumer rips Senate Republicans for passing billions in ICE and Border Patrol funding in late-night vote
Democrat Abdul el Sayed clinches UAW support over primary rivals for Michigan Senate
Bessent flips script on shouting Democrat: ‘No wonder people are leaving’ his blue state
Dems Despise Normal, Masculine Men, Which is Why They Elevate People Like Tim Walz and Graham Platner
Watch: The Moment Unhinged Rep. Green Repeatedly Yells ‘Shut up!’ at Sec. Mullin in Middle of Hearing
Cops arrest 14-year-old accused of gunning down business school graduate on way to ballgame
Breaking: New Hiring Twice as High as Economists Expected in Gangbusters Jobs Report
By PG&E’s estimate, more than 900,000 people were without power Wednesday, some of them since Saturday, while crews battled fires in Northern and Southern California.
The outages turned urban highways dark and blackened shopping malls once glittering with light. People stocked up on batteries, water and gas and lamented the spoiled food in refrigerators.
But the blackouts are more challenging for older and disabled residents who lack the transportation and money to rush out for ice and groceries, said John Geoghegan, head of the Hamilton Tenant Association.
He said about a third of the Villas’ 140 residents are too old, sick or cognitively impaired to care for themselves during an extended outage. He alleges the property management company VPM “abandoned” its tenants.
Geoghegan came home Saturday night to find residents milling in the parking lots, some near panic. “Some expected they would be communicated with, but they weren’t hearing from anybody,” he said.
VPM Management of Irvine, landlord Affordable Housing Access of Newport Beach, and the on-site manager did not respond to requests for comment from the Associated Press.
Natasha Owens drops ‘TDS’ song and music video: ‘You tested positive’
Reporter’s Notebook: GOP bets on fraud crackdown as economic woes surge ahead of midterms
California election limbo fueled by 4 pressure points dragging out vote count, expert says
America at 250: The American Dream Still Begins With Marriage
Karen Read says she gets free meals and discounts everywhere after not guilty verdict
The People Connected to the New UFO Reveals Give Good Reason for Skepticism
DC Circuit grills DOJ over White House bid to continue building ballroom
Video shows Marine veteran wrestle armed teen to ground after alleged robbery attempt
Schumer rips Senate Republicans for passing billions in ICE and Border Patrol funding in late-night vote
Democrat Abdul el Sayed clinches UAW support over primary rivals for Michigan Senate
Bessent flips script on shouting Democrat: ‘No wonder people are leaving’ his blue state
Dems Despise Normal, Masculine Men, Which is Why They Elevate People Like Tim Walz and Graham Platner
Watch: The Moment Unhinged Rep. Green Repeatedly Yells ‘Shut up!’ at Sec. Mullin in Middle of Hearing
Cops arrest 14-year-old accused of gunning down business school graduate on way to ballgame
Breaking: New Hiring Twice as High as Economists Expected in Gangbusters Jobs Report
Elected officials and PG&E customers have complained bitterly over the utility’s lack of communication and inability to provide real-time estimates of when the power would be back on.
Marie Hoch, president of the Hamilton Field of Marin Owners Association, which does not include the Villas, got a call Monday. She visited the three buildings that make up the complex and found apartments without heat and electric stoves that did not work.
“I thought it was particularly upsetting that they knew the power outage was coming,” she said of management.
Zuzak didn’t leave her floor until after Monday night, when power was restored. She spent the two days ping-ponging from one end to the other, checking on neighbors.
Her friend Patti Zahnow, 77, who also uses a walker, says she was too frightened to leave her apartment.
“It was really dark. They put a floodlight up that wasn’t working,” she said. “They should have a floodlight that works.”
Residents said emergency lighting came on in the windowless hallways but lasted for about 12 hours, not nearly long enough for an extended outage. Battery-operated front doors to the buildings that are usually locked became unlocked during the outage.
“It’s pretty disconcerting for the seniors who were fairly unprepared or have difficulty orienting at nighttime,” said Maureen Wagner, 64, who serves as a caregiver for her sister, who lives at the Villas.
Natasha Owens drops ‘TDS’ song and music video: ‘You tested positive’
Reporter’s Notebook: GOP bets on fraud crackdown as economic woes surge ahead of midterms
California election limbo fueled by 4 pressure points dragging out vote count, expert says
America at 250: The American Dream Still Begins With Marriage
Karen Read says she gets free meals and discounts everywhere after not guilty verdict
The People Connected to the New UFO Reveals Give Good Reason for Skepticism
DC Circuit grills DOJ over White House bid to continue building ballroom
Video shows Marine veteran wrestle armed teen to ground after alleged robbery attempt
Schumer rips Senate Republicans for passing billions in ICE and Border Patrol funding in late-night vote
Democrat Abdul el Sayed clinches UAW support over primary rivals for Michigan Senate
Bessent flips script on shouting Democrat: ‘No wonder people are leaving’ his blue state
Dems Despise Normal, Masculine Men, Which is Why They Elevate People Like Tim Walz and Graham Platner
Watch: The Moment Unhinged Rep. Green Repeatedly Yells ‘Shut up!’ at Sec. Mullin in Middle of Hearing
Cops arrest 14-year-old accused of gunning down business school graduate on way to ballgame
Breaking: New Hiring Twice as High as Economists Expected in Gangbusters Jobs Report
Resident Helen Wagar, who is in her 80s, was returning to her third-floor apartment from walking her dog, Pixie. She was climbing the stairs, in the dark, when she tripped over another woman who had fallen on a landing.
Wagar’s knee is swollen. She never found out the identity of the woman.
“It was black as pitch in that stairwell,” she said. “I never did see the girl at all.”
Story cited here.
