TEXARKANA, Texas - Information about residents not having any heat on the ninth floor or the Robison Terrace high-rise apartments prompted quick action Monday by the Housing Authority of Texarkana, Texas.
Anonymous sources say they have been temporarily moved from the ninth floor because they have not had any heating on the floor since November because of renovations.
The residents, who were using electric heaters, were told to use their ovens to help keep warm, according to the sources, who wished to remain anonymous. After a while of the heater not working on the floor, they tried to alert authorities of the situation.
"The ones I talked to told me that they were working on it," a resident said. "But I never heard back from them. Eventually, I just let it go because I got tired.
"From there, I just stayed by the oven to keep warm."
Another source said one of the maintenance men told her to use her stove for heat.
"I finally bought a space heater from a friend, but we still need better heat," she said.
Upon hearing about the high-rise's ninth-floor heating problems for the first time Monday afternoon from a Texarkana Gazette reporter, HATT Chief Executive Officer Antonio Williams placed calls for immediate action to fix the problem.
Williams said that the heating problems would be solved by the end of business hours on Monday and if it wasn't, the housing authority would put all affected high-rise residents in local motels.