EUCLID, Ohio — The question came from within the newsroom. What can you do if you don’t have a gas stove and you don’t want to keep blowing all your money eating out? News 5 set out to get some answers for our community. What we learned transcended any consumer guidance or best practices out there.
It’s been a challenging couple of days for Tionn Oglesby.
“Gruesome, I ain’t gonna lie. It’s been hot, no lights, shower been dark, hungry.”
He lives with his grandmother in an apartment building in Euclid. When the power first went out Tuesday, they, like so many of us, didn’t think it would last too long.
“Two days? Eight days? A whole week? Never in a million years.”
By the time they realized they needed coolers and ice, it was too late. All the ice in their neighborhood was sold out, and all their food was spoiled. They’ve been able to rely on family members in the area for a place to charge up and cool down, and Oglesby has been able to secure some meals from work. They’ve also been getting help from their neighbors, like Electra Davison.
On any other day, she might have been watching television and scrolling on her phone. Not today.
“Just sitting outside, relaxing, enjoying the day,” she said when we asked how she was passing the time during this outage. She was taking in the nice weather. She was also wondering how she could help.
“We’ve been looking out for each other, making sure everybody’s OK,” she said of her apartment community. From the night the lights went out, they’ve been checking on each other.
“Sometimes we’re ashamed of things. We won’t say ‘hey I need something to eat’ or ‘I need a little gas in my car to get this ice’ or ‘I need some ice to keep this food’ and there’s a neighbor right next to you who don’t have ice or food but they do have the gas and can assist you,” she said.
Davison said they cooked what they could early on to avoid letting food spoil. The building has electric ranges, but they came up with other solutions.
“We’ve been grilling, we’ve been finding other resources and other ways to help each other out and cook so we do survive in this time.”
Davison doesn’t have a cooler. She only has enough ice to keep a class of water chilled. But she’s not worried.
“This is just something that we’re experiencing right now, but some people experience this all the time,” she said.
She started checking on her neighbors, asking what they needed. She’s seen others do the same. They’re charging each other’s phones, getting each other food, running to the store. The attitude has taken over.
“Everybody just trying to do what they can,” said Oglesby. “We just gonna keep hanging in there, keep God first. That’s all we can do.”
Davison has been trying to preserve her phone battery for emergencies. She didn’t know the estimated timeline for getting the power back on until we told her. So, how does she plan to get through six more days with no coolers, no ice, and no range?
“See how you can find a way to assist someone who you see is having the same hard time as you,” she said. “Reach out in a time like this. Small things can mean so much more.”
We also know that when you’re out of food and facing six more days in the dark, you likely need more than a positive outlook and a good neighbor to make it through. We have some resources where you can find meals, charging stations, showers and air conditioning here.
