Longer power outages pose risks
Thousands are without power in the Twin Cities and elsewhere after another wave of storms hit Tuesday.
RICHFIELD, Minn. (FOX 9) – While power outages are an inconvenience for some people, they are potentially life-threatening for others. The storms that swept through the metro on Monday night left 150,000 customers without power at one point.
The outages have left electronic medical devices unusable and some now fear for their health.
“I’ve been awake since 12:30 a.m. last night, and I’m afraid that if I go to sleep, I won’t be able to stop breathing,” said Alonzo Pollard of Richfield, who recently had two heart surgeries and uses a CPAP machine for sleep apnea. “This machine helps me breathe. It helps pump oxygen to the heart, and if I can’t take that in, I’ll have a hard time breathing and I could die in my sleep.”
He said the power went out at his complex, the Woodlake Park Apartments on DuPont Avenue South, around 7 p.m. Monday night.
Another resident, Craig Goodwin, said his wife, who uses an electronic nebulizer to treat a chronic respiratory condition, had to leave the house to spend the night at her son’s house.
“If there’s no power and she has a seizure, there’s no way to hook up the machine,” he said. “If there’s no power, no one to help us, and she has a seizure and I can’t hook her up to her nebulizer machine, I’ll have to call emergency services and have her taken to the hospital.”
In a statement Tuesday evening, Xcel Energy said customers with medical needs can request a designation for their account. While this does not guarantee immediate restoration, it will help, the utility said.
