Gloria Ramirez lit gas heaters while some of the country’s top politicians visited her East End home to see the damage caused by last week’s arctic climate.
Family photos – years of history that would be lost if the wrong pipe burst – covered every inch of its walls. US Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, advised Ramirez not to give up on making FEMA reimburse the damage by taking pictures, keeping receipts and ensuring that his voice is heard.
Changes need to be made for Houston residents to have a better quality of life, said longtime Second Ward advocate Jessica Hulsey, who led the home visits. Residents want to enjoy their homes, but also want them to be in good condition to pass them on to their children when the time comes. The freeze was another reminder that older, uninsulated houses were not built to withstand extreme weather conditions, she said.
On the steps of the Houston Food Bank on Saturday morning, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, delivered a clear message: disasters don’t hit everyone in the same way.
“You already have so many families in the state and across the country on the brink that they can’t afford an emergency to start,” said Ocasio-Cortez. “It can delay people for years, not just days.”
Jessica Hulsey, from Houston, speaks to US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after giving her a tour of her neighborhood, where some Houston homes were damaged by the winter storm on Saturday, February 20, 2021.
Elizabeth Conley / Team photographerBefore traveling to Houston at Garcia’s invitation, Ocasio-Cortez raised more than $ 3 million to distribute to Texas organizations with a focus on food insecurity, care for the elderly and homelessness. All funds raised will go to these local nonprofits, she said.
The country is gathering around the state of Texas to recover from this tragedy, she said, but there must be political decisions so that “this type of preventable devastation will never happen again”.
Houston Food Bank, which has smaller food pantries in the city, will receive much of the funding, she said. In the food bank, no one needs to prove they need help.
“Documented, undocumented, no matter your income or housing situation, you can get help here,” said Ocasio-Cortez.
Jackson-Lee said he saw decades of neglect on the part of the state when it comes to vulnerable and marginalized populations. Many of the Garcia and Jackson-Lee districts have been without power or drinking water this week, they said.
“Many vulnerable people, essential workers, marginalized people, many documented or undocumented, are our residents, they are our brothers and sisters,” said Jackson-Lee. “We know that many of them have suffered more deprivation than I imagined.”
Ocasio-Cortez stayed in Houston on Saturday knocking on the Garcia district door to door, which stretches from Pearland to Aldine, to personally see the extent of the damage from the winter storm. She said that their privilege as public servants vaccinated with COVID led her to travel to Texas.
In southeast Houston, near Hobby Airport, representatives visited Kory Haywood, 26, and his wife, Dolores Lozano, 29. The couple moved to the neighborhood at the beginning of the pandemic and said they had experienced two catastrophes in their first year as owners.
During the week, the couple packed the meat in the fridge and freezer in a cooler and took it from one friend’s house to another depending on who had energy and space.
With the water boiling on the stove and dishes in the sink, the prolonged effects of the storm were evident. A pipe burst in the laundry room, but was quickly repaired by Lozano’s father, she said. However, Haywood is not sure if his problems are over.
“I hope there isn’t a lot of water on the walls that we don’t know about,” said Haywood.
Congressman Al Green and Garcia both called for a complete independent investigation by the Texas Electric Reliability Council, and the Texas Legislature should consider joining the national power grid.
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