‘It’s Very Expensive’: Mother shares experience being without power, water, while thousands await restoration

RUSK COUNTY, Texas (KTRE) — Thousands of Deep East Texans remain without power following last weekend’s winter storm, and frustration is building among residents struggling through a week without electricity and water.

Jessica Campbell, a mother living in Rusk County says she has been without power for six days, and without water for three.

She has been working to keep herself and her children warm, relying largely on her community to survive the difficult living conditions.

In order to stay warm, Campbell says she’s been using 3 cans of gas a day for her generator, and it’s starting to become expensive. And leaving, wasn’t always a probable option.

“As a single mother keeping my kids warm is a priority… it’s very expensive, and I was thinking that out should I go to a hotel, but what if my pipes freeze and burst,” Campbell said.

Campbell is a member of the Rusk Electric Co-op, and she says it’s been difficult not having consistent communication with them.

“We are in the outskirts, but it is a little bit frustrating to not have that communication with our co-op electric company,” she said.

Campbell is not alone in her frustration. Some residents of have turned to social media to call for action, concerned there was insufficient preparation ahead of the storm.

The Deep East Texas Electric Cooperation acknowledges residents’ struggles and says it understands their frustration.

Brittney Ford with DETEC said the company currently has around 4,200 customers awaiting power restoration.

She emphasized that the cooperative has planned for such emergencies, noting this storm has been worse for them than Hurricane Rita was.

Ford said DETEC holds annual meetings, maintains storm contracts for emergencies, and has contractors dedicated solely to responding to natural disasters. She encouraged anyone with questions to reach out to the cooperative.

Campbell said she hopes the outage will serve as a lesson for the community to prepare for weather disasters when they come.

DETEC also has five other electric co-ops assisting them, with crews working 16-hour shifts to restore power as quickly as possible. She says that all power should be restored by Sunday.

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