HELP YOUR CONSTITUENT SOLVE
THEIR PROBLEMS?
>> THAT IS SUCH A GOOD POINT.
LET’S GO TO MIKE.
YOU LIVE IN TEXAS, YOU’RE LIVING
THROUGH THIS DISASTER, UNDER
SCORING WITH SO MANY PEOPLE ARE
EXPERIENCING, I WANT TO PUT A
FEW OF YOUR TWEETS ON THE
SCREEN.
YOU SAID AFTER WE LOST POWER AND
THE PIPES BURST YOUR TODDLER
CHOKED ON A PEANUT IN YOUR DARK
HOUSE.
YOU RUSHED HIM ACROSS TOWN FOR
EMERGENCY SURGERY AT A HOSPITAL
THAT DOESN’T HAVE ENOUGH WATER
PRESSURE TO FLUSH TOILETS.
YOU CLARIFIED THAT THE HOSPITAL
DOES NOT HAVE ANY WATER, THEY’RE
TRUCKING IT IN, NURSES AND STAFF
ARE EXHAUSTED.
MANY OF THEM ARE AWAY FROM THEIR
FAMILIES WHO ARE STUCK IN
FROZENOUSING AND DOING A GREAT
JOB PAIRING FOR YOUR SON.
HOW IS YOUR SON TODAY AND HOW
ARE YOU.
>> THANK YOU, I’M GETTING A
LITTLE EMOTIONAL.
>> I’M ALSO TRYING TO BE A GOOD
DAD.
AND IT IS A CHALLENGE RIGHT NOW.
MY SON IS DOING WELL.
HE IS DOWNSTAIRS WATCHING SESAME
STREET.
OUR POWER CAME ON LAST NIGHT,
BUT IT FEELS LIKE WE JUST ROLL
FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS THIS WEEK.
I CAN TELL YOU WHEN HE WAS
CHOKING AND IN THE AFTERMATH IT
IS ALWAYS, THAT WILL BE A SCARY
SITUATION NO MATTER WHAT.
IT WAS MADE SO MUCH WORSE
BECAUSE WE COULD NOT GET A CELL
SIGNAL.
IT WAS HARD TO PULL UP THE
NUMBER TO OUR DOCTOR’S OFFICE.
IT WAS IS THIS AN EMERGENCY, IS
IT NOT?
THANKFULLY I WAS ABLE TO REACH A
FRIEND WHO IS A NURSE AT TEXAS
CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL AND SHE SAID
JUST GO, TAKE HIM.
LATER IF THE HOSPITAL HAD NOT,
THANK GOD I HAD SIGNAL AT THE
MOMENT THAT THE HOSPITAL CALLED
ME BACK AND THEY SAID WE FOUND
SOMETHING, HE NEEDS EMERGENCY
SURGERY RIGHT NOW.
THIS IS LIKE MIDNIGHT AFTER FOUR
HOURS IN THE E.R.
AND I HAD TOO ZOOM ACROSS TOWN,
RUNNING REDLIGHTS, THROUGH
INTERSECTIONS WHERE THERE ARE
NOT EVEN LIGHTS ON, WITH MY
THREE KIDS IN THE BACK BECAUSE
THEY DIDN’T WANT TO BE
SEPARATED.
MY WIFE DIDN’T WANT TO BE
SEPARATED BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF
CELL SERVICE, POWER, AND WATER.
THANK GOD WE GOT THERE.
THE HOSPITAL WAS SO BUSY FILLED
WITH CHILDREN THAT NEED
ELECTRICITY TO POWER THEIR
VENTILATORS OR OTHER EQUIPMENT
TO LIVE.
IT WAS VERY HECTIC AND THERE WAS
NO WATER.
SO IT WAS -- HE’S OKAY NOW AND
I’M RELIEVED AND FEELING BETTER
ABOUT THAT, BUT NOW WE’RE BACK HOME WITH POWER AND MAYBE PEOPLE
HOME WITH POWER AND MAYBE PEOPLE
WILL BE ABLE TO FIX OUR BURST
PIPES.
SO MANY PIPES BURST THAT THEY
JUST CAN’T GET TO EVERYBODY.
SO THAT IS WHERE WE’RE AT. >> THESE ARE INSANE IMAGES OF
>> THESE ARE INSANE IMAGES OF
BURST PIPES.
I FEEL FOR YOU GOING THROUGH ALL
OF THAT TRAUMA AND THE TERROR OF
WONDERING WHETHER OR NOT HE WILL
BE OKAY IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS
ALREADY HORRIBLE CRISIS.
ARE YOU STRUCK BY THE FACT THAT
THIS WAS ALL PREVENTABLE.
THAT TEXAS WAS WARNED IN 2011
THAT YOU HAVE TO WINTERIZE YOUR
PIPES.
AND YOUR GENERATORS, WINTERIZE
YOUR ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT.
IF YOU DON’T YOU WILL GO THROUGH
ROLLING BLACKOUTS AND HAVE
DISASTER AGAIN AND TEXAS REFUSED
TO DO IT.
FROM YOUR SENSE OF TALKING TO
PEOPLE DO YOU THINK TEXANS WILL
WANT TO ALLOW THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT IN TO FORCE THIS
ISSUE?
TO MAKE SURE THIS THING DOESN’T
HAPPEN AGAIN?
>> BEARING IN MIND THAT TEXAS IS
A VERY BIG STATE AND HOUSTON IS
A LARGE CITY.
I HAVE TALKED WITH MY NEIGHBORS
AND SEVERAL OF THEM THOUGHT WHEN
THEY SAW RICK PERRY COMMENTED
THAT TEXASENS ARE WILLING TONE
DUR
-- ENDURE BLACKOUTS TO KEEP THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OUT, THE
NEIGHBORS APPROACHED ME AND
WANTED ME TO KNOW THAT THEY
THOUGHT THAT WAS GARBAGE AND
THAT, YOU KNOW, THEY DON’T KNOW
WHAT THE SOLUTION IS OR WHETHER
OR NOT FEDERAL REGULATION WILL
FIX IT, BUT NO ONE IS INTERESTED
IN DOING THIS AGAIN.
PEOPLE ARE DIEING AND I THINK,
YOU KNOW I CAN RELATE AS A HUMAN
AND AS A DAD.
THERE IS A COUPLE MOMENTS THAT
COULD HAVE GONE IN A DIFFERENT
DIRECTION FOR ME AND THE POWER
FAILURE IS WHAT CAUSED IT ALL.
THE NEXT MORNING AFTER MY SON
WAS RECOVERING FROM SURGERY, THE
ANESTHESIOLOGIST CAME IN TO LET
ME KNOW IF WE HAD BEEN A FEW
HOURS LATER, IF WE HAD NOT COME
IN, IF THEY MISSED IT, OR IF I
HAD NOT CALLED THAT NURSE, IT
COULD HAVE BEEN LIFE THREATENING
FOR MY CHILD.
ANYONE THAT IS WILLING TO JUST ENDURE THIS FOR ANY POLITICAL
ENDURE THIS FOR ANY POLITICAL
REASON IS FAR FETCHED.
>> MANY PEOPLE NOT ABLE TO
CHARGE THE BATTERIES FOR THEIR