One woman in her 80s tripped over another resident who had fallen on the landing in a steep stairwell. At least 20 seniors with wheelchairs and walkers were essentially trapped, in the dark, in a low-income apartment complex in Northern California during a two-day power shut-off aimed at warding off
NOVATO, Calif. — One woman in her 80s tripped over another resident who had fallen on the landing in a steep stairwell. Others got disoriented, even in their own apartments, and cried out for help.
"We were surprised by how dark it was," said Pamela Zuzak, 70, who uses a walker to get around."There was nothing, nothing lit. It was like going into a darkroom closet, pitch black, you couldn't see in front of you." The outages turned urban highways dark and blackened shopping malls once glittering with light. People stocked up on batteries, water and gas and lamented the spoiled food in refrigerators.
Geoghegan came home Saturday night to find residents milling in the parking lots, some near panic."Some expected they would be communicated with, but they weren't hearing from anybody," he said. Marie Hoch, president of the Hamilton Field of Marin Owners Association, which does not include the Villas, got a call Monday. She visited the three buildings that make up the complex and found apartments without heat and electric stoves that did not work.
Her friend Patti Zahnow, 77, who also uses a walker, says she was too frightened to leave her apartment.
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