Doyle ultimately checked into a $98-a-night hotel room late Tuesday, after enduring a compounding crisis of extreme heat and no power for more than a week with about 200 other seniors at an independent living facility in the Kingwood community.
“There’s no air circulating. It’s just stifling and it’s sort of tough to breathe,” he told CNN before returning to his apartment when power was restored Thursday afternoon. “I just couldn’t take it anymore.”
During the outage, a generator powered one elevator and a large, air-conditioned lounge at the complex – a lifeline for many who are dependent on electric wheelchairs and scooters to get around and oxygen machines for pulmonary disease. At times, as many as 40 residents sought refuge in the lounge. Others remained in their stifling apartments. Some stayed with relatives.
“A friend just turned 95 about a month ago,” Doyle said. “Another friend of mine is over 90 and quite a few of us are all over 80. It’s tough. You’re not as spry as you used to be.”
