Senior living apartments in Sunnyside without working elevators since Friday
HOUSTON - Some Houston senior citizens in Sunnyside say they've felt trapped in their homes for a week now, because the elevators in their building are broken, and they can't take the stairs.
There are three elevators in the Magnolia Place Senior Apartment Homes and all of them were broken, taken out in a storm on Friday.
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The four-story senior apartment facility is full of the elderly and those who are disabled and without working elevators, stairs are the only way out.
The stairs at Magnolia Place Senior Apartment Homes have been the only way to get to and from the second, third, and fourth floors since Friday when management says lightning struck the building, breaking all three elevators.
"It's rough. I was supposed to go to the doctor today. I couldn't go. (You had to miss your doctor's appointment?) Yes. She's going to send somebody at 3 p.m.," explains resident Margie Lewis, who's 80-years-old. Fortunately, in this case, the doctor is making a house call.
The 80-year-old, who uses a cane and wheelchair to get around, says she tried taking the stairs on Sunday to go to church.
"I fell. I fell on my knee. On that knee right here. I hit the same knee that I had the surgery on," Lewis explains.
"I mean she can't get out. If a fire happened right now, how is she going to get out with no elevators? She can't go down the stairs. She's going to fall," adds Lewis' son, Marcus Sayles.
Brittney Smith is also concerned about her mother who lives in the building.
"She's had to cancel two doctors' appointments just this week because she can't come down. Due to her being paralyzed on the left side, she can't walk, so she's bed bound. She just had surgery. She's supposed to have follow-up appointments this week, and that's very scary because we need to make sure everything is OK with her," say Smith.
The residents and their relatives say not only are they concerned about missed medical appointments and how the elderly and disabled will get out if there's an emergency, but without working elevators, they're forced to stay inside.
"My mom can't walk at all. She relies on other people, and if we come over, we can't do the simple things like take her downstairs," Smith says, and with no elevators for many, their independence is taken away.
"It's killing me. I'm not an inside person," says Lewis.
Magnolia Place management says this has been very frustrating for everyone and says repairmen have been working every day trying to fix the elevators and even engineers have been brought in.
By the way, the Houston Fire Department says it doesn't appear any codes are being violated, because in the event of a fire, you can't use elevators anyway.
As crews continue to work on the elevators, management says they're glad to announce one elevator has now been fixed as of Thursday afternoon. They don't have an exact time, but they hope all of the elevators will be repaired any day now.