Officials from multiple counties confirm with ABC13 that at least 20 people across our region have died from Hurricane Beryl, and the list continues to grow.
Officials say some of the deaths are from fallen trees, others from drownings. However, the death toll continues to rise as more people across our communities are certified by medical examiners' offices in multiple counties to have died from the heat because of the power outages.
A family in Spring is speaking for the first time to ABC13 after the medical examiner's office in Harris County confirmed their 64-year-old loved one was one of the people who died from the heat last week.
The Jarrett family told Eyewitness News they're heartbroken and devastated, believing this was preventable.
Pamela Jarrett was 64 years old and relied on a wheelchair and feeding tube daily. Her sister, Janet Jarrett, was her caretaker.
Pamela died on Thursday in the home they shared in Spring.
"It could have been avoided, and she didn't have to die that day," Janet Jarrett said in tears on Wednesday evening.
Janet Jarrett says she lost her older sister, Pamela Jarrett, last week after days of being without power in their Spring home and doing what she could to keep her cool.
She said Pam, as she would call her, had a feeding tube, and while the power was out, she did all kinds of things to ensure the device was charged.
Janet Jarrett says she tried to keep her sister cool with ice, water, and cool bed showers before bedtime, but, unfortunately, on Thursday morning, she was unresponsive. Janet Jarrett says with the outage, it was difficult to get enough signal to even call 911. She says by the time the ambulance showed up and took Pam, she knew in her heart her sister was gone after days of being in the heat with no relief because of the outages.
"As much as I tried to save her, I couldn't save her," Janet Jarrett said.
On Wednesday evening, a pearly white dress lay where Pamela Jarrett took her final breath. It's a dress her family told ABC13 she'll now be buried in as her heartbroken family remembers her fondly.
"Funny. Very sassy. Very sassy, and she's very big on fashion," Janet Jarrett said.
On Wednesday afternoon at Houston City Council, council members voiced their concerns about the growing number of deaths across the greater Houston area due to power outages caused by Hurricane Beryl.
"This could be so avoidable at this point that the loss of life continues to grow, and it didn't have to happen like this," Councilwoman Abby Kamin said.
Hurting families agree.
"Having electricity would help," Jane Jarrett said. "This could have been avoided. It could have been avoided."
Janet Jarrett says her sister was on a CenterPoint emergency list, but her power wasn't restored until Tuesday, July 16, five days after the medical examiner's office said her sister died from the heat.
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