DWP Strike Complicates Man’s Race to Save Wife

For Northridge resident Lee Waters, a power outage early Wednesday meant a frantic race against time to save his wife’s life.

Elizabeth Waters, in a coma for two years, is dependent upon electric-powered life support equipment and can survive only a limited time on backup oxygen. Her husband’s search for the power necessary to keep her alive included numerous frustrating calls to the Department of Water and Power and a confrontation with striking workers on a picket line.

By late afternoon, Lee Waters had obtained two emergency generators from private sources to keep the lifeline going and had even received some help from the strikers. But his odyssey convinced him that the department he normally depends on for life-giving electricity needs to take more responsibility for handling such emergency situations.

Elizabeth Waters, 72, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1983 and went into a coma two years ago. Her husband, also 72, decided to keep her alive on electric life-support equipment.

When the electricity went out in the neighborhood, he provided his wife with oxygen from small tanks and then called the DWP. He was told there was no telling when power would be restored.

Waters thought he was covered for just such emergencies. He had applied to the DWP about a year ago for priority assistance in a life-threatening situation. It was his understanding the department would provide a generator if necessary. But a DWP operator could not access the computer to confirm that he was on the list. She told him to call the service department seven hours later.

He eventually turned to his son, Bill, who owns a generator. They used that machine to operate Elizabeth Waters’ humidifier. But her condition requires another generator to operate a suction apparatus. At about 8 a.m., he said he called the DWP service department but was told his name was not on the priority assistance list.

Finally, about 2:30 p.m., he set off to pick up another generator from a gardener at his country club. On the way, he spotted a DWP crew working near his home. He stopped to talk with them when a group of picketers, who had been arguing with the crew, confronted him. Only then did he realize there was a strike.

He picked up the gardener’s generator only to have another--less confrontational--encounter with the picketers on the drive home.

As he was unloading the machine at his house, the strikers approached him and asked if he needed help. Together, they installed the second machine.