HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Natural disasters often bring out the best and worst in people. Unfortunately, Victoria Ma experienced the latter when her Westbury home was targeted overnight.
“You can see the point of entry is here,” Ma said, indicating her shattered back sliding glass door.
Hurricane Beryl had already wreaked havoc on Monday, tearing apart Ma’s fence and leaving her among the 2.2 million people in the region without power. After spending Tuesday night at a friend’s house, she returned on Wednesday morning to find her windows and doors shattered.
“I feel like I should be angry. But I’m so tired from the last few days that I just don’t have enough energy to be angry anymore. I’m hot, I’m tired, it’s just been a lot. Maybe it will hit more later,” Ma told Eyewitness News reporter Miya Shay for a story ONLY ON 13.
Ma believes that a giant tree on the backside of a neighborhood ditch, which crushed a CenterPoint transformer, caused her power outage. The damage is visible right behind Linda Anselmo’s fence, who was eager to show ABC13 the mess of wires, trees, and leaves dangling along the ditch.
“I don’t think we’ll have power for three weeks,” Anselmo said, expressing her frustration. “It’s pitch black out here. They know the alarms aren’t working. And most of the people are gone because the houses are 85 degrees.”
This Westbury neighborhood isn’t the only one affected. The Houston Police Department reported that officers arrested four people accused of breaking into two different businesses while the power was out on Tuesday, including a beauty supply shop on Cullen Boulevard. The shop has since reopened with security and electricity.
For Ma, however, the repairs have just begun, and she fears the suspects will never be caught.
“Just kicking us while we’re down? The worst of the worst. You know, I went to file a police report, and while I was there, another lady came in with the same issue,” she sighed.
