Houston Storm in May 2024: What are the requirements for senior and disabled housing in the event of a natural disaster?

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — When Thursday’s storm knocked out power to Independence Hall, an affordable independent living complex for seniors and people with disabilities, residents of the complex’s more than 260 units faced many challenges.

Some residents found themselves stuck in electric beds and others were unable to leave their units after their electric wheelchairs and scooters died. There was no power for the electric oxygen compressors, and with the phones out of service, they couldn’t call for help.

The Houston Fire Department had to help at least two residents Sunday who couldn’t get transportation to dialysis and missed appointments. Houston Mayor John Whitmire said they were also dehydrated.

Whitmire accused the building’s ownership and management of “abandoning” residents, like Thomas Wilkin, after the storm.

Wilkin, a double amputee, was stuck in his second-floor apartment after his electric wheelchair died until power was restored Sunday.

“I wondered how we were going to survive. We were running out of food and the food we had was spoiling. We had no way to cook,” Wilkin said.

ABC13 contacted the head of the building’s nonprofit management group.

He explained that the complex was created in the 1970s as part of the Section 236 program of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The loan matured after four decades.

In 2002, the City of Houston provided the property with a $2 million renovation loan through HUD’s HOME Partnership.

The complex has a standing agreement with the city, which was reviewed by ABC13. Residents must be low-income, disabled or elderly.

However, because the loan has matured and the property is considered an independent residence, management said it was not required to offer residents any more protections than a traditional rental agreement would. would do in an emergency.

“The only thing I could personally recommend is that it be a handicapped facility (with) backup generators,” Wilkin said.

Despite receiving federal and city funding to house hundreds of vulnerable Houston residents, the complex’s management said it was not legally required to have generators. They also didn’t check on residents after the storm, citing the same reason.

Lone Star Legal Aid, a tenants’ rights group, told ABC13 it is reviewing residents’ cases individually, looking at possible exceptions and protections.

“It will be curious for us to do a very in-depth analysis of each tenant’s situation,” said Dana Karni, Lone Star Legal Aid’s litigation director.

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