Elderly, disabled Atlantans go days without clean water and showers amid frigid temps

ATLANTA - Across metro Atlanta, there are still many people without running water due to frigid temperatures. Some of those impacted the hardest have been senior citizens and people with disabilities. Residents at Branan Towers, a senior complex in East Atlanta, say they have not had water since last week.

"There’s been no water," resident Emelda Kador, 69, told FOX 5. "You can’t bathe, you can’t cook. There’s no drinking water. You can’t do the laundry."

Throughout metro Atlanta, water service issues caused by the freezing cold have been inconvenient for many, to say the least. For seniors at Branan Towers, it's also a health concern.

"I’ve been out of water," Jonathan Wilder, a resident who uses a mobility scooter, told FOX 5. "I’m a diabetic and I can’t eat. I can’t take my shots."

Residents of the senior living tower on Glenwood Avenue said their sinks dried up on Friday. Their holidays were ruined before they could begin.

"Christmas was awful," Kador said. "You couldn’t cook, and you couldn’t go anywhere. You couldn’t bathe."

 They still do not have a clear answer about when their faucets will fully flow again. They say their building's management told them to take it up with the City.

"They gave us a phone number to call, and it ain’t nothing but recordings, recordings," Frances Osornio, 67, said. "Nobody’s responded."

The residents who spoke with FOX 5 said they live on a fixed income, and many of them do not have the money or ability to go out and buy cases of bottled water.

With 11 floors of toilet that cannot flush, the odor throughout the building is obvious.

J.D. Fite, a spokesperson for the building's management company, Wesley Woods, told FOX 5 that they were working for the City of Atlanta's Department of Watershed Management to fix the problem.

However, when FOX 5 reached out to the City, a representative said this was the first they had heard of an issue at Branan Towers.

Wesley Woods said it was giving potable water to its residents. However, residents who spoke with FOX 5 said a few cases of eight-ounce bottles only showed up in the lobby hours after the news station questioned the company. Residents said they were limited to four mini bottles per apartment.

"We’re seniors," Wilder said, "and people don’t need to give up on us."

 Atlanta Watershed said thanks to FOX 5, there has now been a service request opened for the building. It is not clear when crews will be out there.

Meanwhile, the senior citizens at Branan Tower say they could really use donations of bottled water. Anyone willing can drop some off at the front desk of the building located at 1200 Glenwood Avenue SE, Atlanta.

"Ain’t no situation for us to be in. Right now you can see my condition," said Wilder, pointing toward his mobility scooter. "I’m not in any shape to do anything and I’m hungry."