12 hours ago
Power restored to Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, senior apartments following 4-day outage
Power was restored just after 3 p.m. Monday at Newtown Towers, an apartment complex in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, after residents spent more than three days in sweltering conditions following last week's storm.
The outage left dozens of older adults — many on fixed incomes and with mobility issues — without air conditioning, elevators or refrigeration as a heat wave gripped the region.
"I had to clean out my refrigerator," 76-year-old Sue Dougherty said. "Thank God my daughter took a lot of my freezer stuff. But I had to throw out chicken and hot dogs."
Dougherty has been staying with family, but returned Monday to check on her cat, Rita.
"I just called the vet," she said. "And he said, 'Bring her up.'"
Other residents without nearby family found their own ways to stay cool. Blanche Aboyan, 71, spent time in her parked car with the air conditioning running.
"I have the air conditioner on in my car and it's feeling great and I'm starting to wake up," Aboyan said.
She watched as utility crews worked for hours in the heat, clearing tree branches tangled in power lines.
"I don't wish to be them," she said.
Some residents were taken to the hospital during the outage, according to neighbors.
"Several of the neighbors have been taken by the emergency vehicles because of the heat," resident Bob McDonald said. "But we're very aggressive and proactive in taking care of our neighbors."
Without a working elevator, residents said they were largely confined to their apartments.
"A lot of people move here because of the elevator," Dougherty said. "But in an emergency like this, there's no elevator."
Despite the hardship, many said the experience brought them closer together.
"In an emergency like this, we all try to help each other — give each other water. Whatever we can do," Dougherty said. "We have a lot of camaraderie here."
