AUSTIN, Texas — Many people are going into day three without power after a winter storm left hundreds of thousands of people without electricity across Central Texas.
In Austin, the City's most vulnerable populations are feeling the impacts. KVUE's Pamela Comme spoke with a blind woman, Krisha Hagler, at Pecan Hills Apartments, a complex for people with disabilities. Hagler said the power went out Wednesday morning and it's been difficult to stay warm.
"It's just it's just cold in here," said Hagler. "And... I have I have a bed warmer, but I can't use it because it's cold. The power's out. I can't turn on the heat because the power's out."
Hagler said on Thursday, her dad was picking her up to stay at his house. However, there are other people in her building who have no option but to stay there. It's not because they don't have family, it's because they have no way of making it down stairs.
"There's people in wheelchairs that cannot use the elevator because the power's out," added Hagler. "And it's really cold in here. And it's it's just really inconvenient."
The power went out two days ago for Rekha Roarty who lives in Austin and is taking care of her seven month old baby.
"We have a seven month old baby, and our baby monitor started going off, saying there was no signal," said Roarty. "So, that woke me up."
When Roarty went to check on her baby, she noticed he didn't have a blanket on him. She picked him up, took him into her bed and tried to warm him up. However, as the hours went on, nothing was working.
"[He was] wearing his outside clothing the whole day," said Roarty. "Had a blanket on him and had a coat on him and had a cap on him."
Despite Roarty's effort to warm him up, his cheeks and forehead were cold. She tried to get to her parent's house who live in town, but the roads were impassable. Instead Roarty stayed had some friends who lived close by that let them stay over for one night.
Now, all Roarty hopes is the power comes back soon.
"Austin Energy keeps trying to say that they were prepared for this. "In my view, if one out of four of your customers don't have the service you're supposed to be providing, it doesn't sound like there is preparation," said Roarty.