DALLAS — Piles of fallen trees and days with no power would irritate most, but it only forces Clinton Nichols and Sharon Kneiscl to look on the bright side.
“I can always buy cheap food just can’t cook it because we don’t have power,” said Nichols.
“That’s alright. We’ve got plenty of wood for a fire though,” said Kneiscl.
They live in White Rock Hills in East Dallas with another day of no power.
“What gets me is they had the power back on and then boom, it goes back off,” said Nichols.
He has cancer and uses oxygen.
“It’s kind of devastating when somebody is on life support, and you can’t do anything,” said Kneiscl.
Still, they have found a way to stay positive.
“I’m grateful because there’s a lot of folks who got it a whole lot worse than me,” said Nichols.
Just a few miles away, the Wilkinson Center was trying to salvage what they could at their food pantry.
“Our team is still assessing what else we have left. They’ve been hard at work clearing out and restocking,” said Daley Ryan, Wilkinson Center Executive Director.
The pantry had to throw out 10,000 pounds of food.
“Our focus is just on coming back and serving the community. There are 500 to 600 families that need this place and are relying on it,” said Ryan. “A lot of our staff have been without power. They’re crashing on their friend's couch. They’re scrambling. They’re trying to find a hotel for themselves, but they’re coming by here to check every 10 or 15 minutes if the power is back yet. Volunteers are calling asking us what they can do.”
Residents have been helping each other as well.
“I know the power people are doing everything they can,” said Nichols.
While WFAA watched as Nichols and Kneiscl offered to help another neighbor, Oncor was finally able to restore their power.
“Yay! We’ve got it,” said Kneiscl.
“Thank you, Lord,” said Nichols.
Oncor said they should restore most of their customers’ power by Friday evening, but work could continue through the weekend in the hardest-hit areas.