After enduring six days without hot water, dozens of people in San Jose on Monday were finally able to take a hot shower.
The hot-water outage was sparked on Tuesday when a big tree fell near the complex, knocking out gas and water service to the residents of Menclair Apartments. Around that time, heavy winds caused downed trees in the Bay Area.
For the first 30 hours tenants had no running water and when it turned back on the water was cold. Water service to tenants remained cold until Monday afternoon.
"This is really frustrating because it has taken so long and I have had to go to the gym to shower," tenant Robert Gomez said.
The apartment manager did not respond to calls seeking comment.
Valley Fair Realty provided a letter to tenants telling them they were waiting for the city to inspect the work before the gas could be turned back on.
However, when NBC Bay Area checked with the City of San Jose, a spokesman said the property management did not even tell them about the problem until Friday afternoon.
The city said it worked to expedite the permitting process so crews could complete work on Monday.
The incident has left tenants frustrated.
"It was one tree and 36 residents," tenant Kelly Spivey said. "Certainly in the City of San Jose we are prepared to handle disasters larger than this one so it seems to me they should have been able to solve an issue like this shorter than seven days."
