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No power and no way out: One Austin neighborhood feels trapped in the cold

Families are desperate for help as they suffer through three nights of no power and no way out.

AUSTIN, Texas — Hundreds of families in Austin are feeling the desperation as they linger into a third night of no power and no way out of their neighborhood. 

Guy Gold is one of them. He lives in the Jester neighborhood in northwest Austin. It's a neighborhood situated on a steep hill with many retirees. He's even lost track of how many days they've been without power.

“I think it's the third day that we don't have any power up here,” said Gold.  

The struggles here are real. The two ways into the neighborhood are steep grades and no one has been able to make it out.

"There have been a few people that have tried to drive up the road, but their cars get swamped with snow and ice and they turn around,” he said.

Gold takes care of his aging mom. For three days, they have survived on heat from the gas fireplace and food they've been able to salvage. He spoke to KVUE from his car.

“So I'm trying to charge my computer and other power sources because I know there is more bad weather coming in,” he said.

As they head into another night of darkness, he worries about the toll the lack of power is having on those around him.

“There are people up here that all that they're relying on is wood fireplaces and they're out of wood. And some of those people are elderly people. I'm afraid when this is over, they may find some people that are deceased up here,” he said. 

Gold said one of his neighbors heard the need and filled up his wagon with wood and delivered it to families in need in hopes of helping them stay warm another night.

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