{"id":47523,"date":"2021-02-20T16:59:05","date_gmt":"2021-02-20T16:59:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/radiofree.asia\/?guid=cb9cbbe0745f689ce256a16bc7df7dc5"},"modified":"2021-02-20T16:59:05","modified_gmt":"2021-02-20T16:59:05","slug":"unprepared-for-covid-texas-womens-prison-was-equally-unprepared-for-uri","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/02\/20\/unprepared-for-covid-texas-womens-prison-was-equally-unprepared-for-uri\/","title":{"rendered":"Unprepared for COVID, Texas Women\u2019s Prison Was Equally Unprepared for Uri"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Federal<\/a>

When Winter Storm Uri hit Texas, Holli Wrice — a woman incarcerated at a federal medical prison in the Dallas-Fort Worth area — had just gotten out of medical isolation after testing positive for COVID two weeks earlier. The storm, which hit over Presidents’ Day weekend, wreaked havoc across the state, leaving millions without power<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The federal medical camp at Carswell (FMC Carswell) where Wrice is incarcerated avoided the power outages that swept the state. But the storm left the prison \u2014 and the 1066 women confined there<\/a> \u2014 without heat or hot water during a frigid weekend that dropped as low as 5 degrees<\/a> Fahrenheit<\/span>.<\/p>\n

FMC Carswell is the country\u2019s only federal medical prison for women. The majority of women there have serious medical issues that cannot be treated at other prisons. Over the past year, the prison has been hard hit by COVID-19<\/a>. Of the 1285 tests administered to the 1066 women there, nearly 60 percent, or 765, came back positive. This includes Wrice, who tested positive at the end of January and was shuttled around to various parts of the prison during her two-week isolation. When Uri hit, Wrice was still feeling physically weakened and exhausted from the virus. Then, she had to contend with the havoc that the storm wreaked on the prison\u2019s utilities.<\/p>\n

Wrice agreed to go on record, using her full name, with Truthout<\/em>. \u201cHell, they have thrown me in a snake pit and I\u2019ve contracted COVID-19. What else could they possibly do to me?\u201d she wrote. Other women, however, feared retaliation from prison staff and requested that their full names not be published.<\/p>\n

\u201cSewage Water Was Everywhere\u201d<\/h2>\n

On the night of Saturday, February 13, a pipe burst in one of the bathrooms. \u201cWater was gushing like a faucet,\u201d wrote Simone, who asked that her full name not be used for fear of reprisals for speaking with media. An officer managed to turn the water off, but by then it had seeped into some of the women\u2019s cubicles, drenching their possessions.<\/p>\n

The timeline given by the Bureau of Prisons differs. In an email to Truthout<\/em><\/a>, Emery Nelson of the BOP\u2019s public affairs division, stated that on Sunday, February 14, a problem with the hot water heater required shutting water off to conduct repairs. \u201cInmates were given advance warning of the planned water shut-off and were provided additional water during the repair period, which lasted approximately four hours,\u201d Nelson wrote.<\/p>\n

The next day, Monday, February 15, there was a leak in a potable supply unit. But, Nelson noted, the unit continued to have access to potable water, including hot water for showers and the ability to flush toilets. \u201cPlease note, FMC Carswell did not experience a sewage leak and at no time was there sewage inside the housing unit,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n