Jan 15, 2007 10:59 pm US/Central
Residents Face Winter Weather With No Hot Water
by Tiani Jones
GRAND PRAIRIE (CBS 11 News) ―
Imagine facing the cold temperatures we've been having lately without hot water.
Dozens of people in a Grand Prairie apartment complex say they've been taking cold showers for more than a month.
Before hot water flowed freely through our faucets, the process of completing daily hygienic tasks was complicated.
"Our ancestors, I know they had to do this back in the day, but we shouldn't have to do it now. It's 2007," said resident Nicole Matthews.
Matthews has managed to keep a sense of humor even though she says she and some of her neighbors at the Donna Lynn Apartments in Grand Prairie have been without hot water for a very long time.
"Thanksgiving weekend we did not have any hot water and we have been going without hot water ever since," she said.
CBS 11 News tried to contact the property's owner, Sun Ridge Apartments. They did not return our calls.
However, a woman at the onsite management office who identified herself as the manger told us the hot water problem didn't start until January.
But a letter dated in December and sent to the residence of the apartment apologizes for having no hot water.
"They're in default," the woman in the management office said. "It's time to make a change and do it right, and there's no more excuses."
Matthews believes the situation is making her family sick. She and her daughters are all on antibiotics.
To properly clean anything, like dishes or hands, water has to be boiled.
Moving, she says, is difficult. The single mother has three kids in school. She says she just wants the problem fixed.
"How long will we have to live like this or is their something that can be done?" she said.
(CBS 11 News)
