El Paso Elderly Residents Concerned How Their Plumbing Issues Being Addressed At Housing Community

Several members of an senior citizen community in west El Paso told ABC-7 they feel like they’re being brushed off.

“We try and talk to them and they ignore us, ” said Manuel Diego.

He and his neighbors said the storm has taken a toll on them.

“Everybody’s having problems with their health and an inconvenience like this only makes it worse,” said Diego.

Just like thousands of El Paso properties, the Westside Senior Housing Community for residents 62 and older suffered frozen and burst pipes.

The property managers, J.L. Grey out of Albuquerque, said 30 out the 60 units were affected.

They defend the quality of the construction and said the units had to pass tough federal guidelines.

“Inundated most of the bedrooms,” said Diego as he pointed to a neighbor’s ceiling.

Some ceilings caved in damaging furniture and everything else.

“Since Friday we were asking for port-a-potties and we got some last night,” said Diego.

The tenants have gone days without water, according to Diego.

“We’ve asked for water for our normal usage in the bathroom and they just told us that we should take our problems to our relatives, ” said Diego.

Diego said the problem is he and many of his neighbors don’t have any relatives.

One of the many reasons he and others qualify for the subsidized government housing.

Diego said even though the water’s back on, he’s concerned about some of his neighbors with medical conditions left to clean up the mess.

“I can get around pretty well, I don’t have a car but I can move around much better than lets say, 3/4 of the tenants there.”

A J.L Grey spokesman says like the rest of the city they’ve been struggling to find manpower to help repair all the damage and will continue to make every effort to provide for the safety and comfort of their residents.

He said many of their employees have home cleanup issues of their own, as well.

Meanwhile, Diego and his neighbors said they understand everyone’s going through hard times, but, “We got it pretty bad.”

A spokesman with the housing authority — which subsidizes rent for seniors — said tenants can call for an emergency inspection if they have health and safety concerns.

The number is 849-3852.