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'It’s just hot and sticky': Woman with pacemaker without power in Riesel

One 89-year-old resident has been out of power since Tuesday
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RIESEL, Texas (KXXV) — Power outages have swept across Central Texas during this severe weather period, but an unexpected power outage has led to rising tensions in this family’s household.

The family told me they lost power on Tuesday. After waiting on hold for five hours with the agent, the family ended up leaving their number and waiting for a callback.

Seth Posey has been taking care of his grandmother since the outage occurred.

“I’ve got my grandmother, that’s dependent on her pacemaker, that the monitor’s not working and it’s not good for her to be here in a hot house without electricity… and we’ve been here for three days,” Posey said.

They got a call back from Oncor saying their power had been repaired, however, that was not the case when they returned home. After reporting the incident again, they were told there was nothing they could do but wait.

“I’ve been in Riesel since I was 15 and I have never ever had this kind of issue with electricity, ever. We need them to be more observant of their customers. I’d be very thankful if it gets fixed today,” Riesel resident Barbara Dean said.

The monitor alerts the doctor of her heart health, which determines the medications she can take. Barbara told me she has struggled to keep up with her medication schedule because of the power outage. They said they are frustrated with the lack of communication from Oncor.

I reached out to Oncor, and they said the outage was isolated to their property during the week, but since the overnight storm, there are a few hundred in the area without power. They explained that a partial power outage is made less of a priority when there are customers without power completely.