| Page 2 of 2 < |
Too Close to 100 for Comfort, and Far From Relief
Irene Karulis tries to keep cool with a washcloth as she and stepmother Berta Roze wait for power to be restored.
(By Andrea Bruce -- The Washington Post)
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
Some residents said it was their second blackout in a few days, the first coming with Saturday's storm.
Jaslean LaTaillade, 36, an assistant professor at the University of Maryland, lives at Sixth and Aspen streets. She said she lost power, regained it, and lost it again Monday.
Her mother, Stella, 64, was supposed to come Saturday, LaTaillade said, but stayed away because of the first outage. She arrived from New York only to learn of the second.
"Unbelievable, unbelievable," said Stella LaTaillade.
The retired nursing administrator's mood was not exactly bright after sleeping in a hot bed next to her daughter Christiane, 32, a social worker. And, she said, the lack of electricity meant no ice for a chronically aching shoulder.
After her daughter tried unsuccessfully to get service, the mother called Pepco herself. By early afternoon, no one had responded. "This is a public service people are entitled to," she said. "There is a lack of concern for customers."
Power was restored, Dobkin said, at 7:06 a. m. Saturday after the first outage, though LaTaillade insisted she was without power all that day.
The second outage on the street, Dobkin said, was reported about 8:45 p.m. Monday. He said a crew could not get to the area until yesterday at 12:52 p.m., in part because of service disruptions in other sections of the city after the storm.
"That was the first they could get people there," he said.
Karulis said losing power for a second time Monday night was especially confounding. Still, she refused a granddaughter's invitation to take shelter at her Georgetown home.
"It's difficult to change places," said the retired Voice of America announcer, who emigrated from Latvia more than 50 years ago.
She had dry Rice Krispies and berries for breakfast and sipped water. Her stepmother, she said, groused about being unable to listen to her book on tape, an anthropologist's memoir. A real cup of coffee would have helped, too.
Staff writers Aymar Jean, Clarence Williams, Martin Weil and Debbi Wilgoren contributed to this report.
Mobile
Email