Residents of Preston Hollow Drive are finally experiencing relief as traffic resumes after a gas explosion left a trail of devastation.
SAN ANTONIO — The late evening text from a Preston Hollow Drive neighbor on Thursday was almost gleeful.
“The street is now open!”
After 16 frustrating days, the barricades came down and traffic once again started flowing freely.
The man who lives at the corner that had been closed at a dead end cul de sac came outside with his dog Charlie Friday morning.
As Charlie watched for errant squirrels and inspected flower beds, his human said “I was so worried about the kids that were playing in the neighborhood, and Charlie the dog! I’m just relieved that the traffic can get through,” he said, adding “We’re getting back to a little bit of normalcy in the neighborhood.”
While enjoying the change, he also expressed continuing concern for the five people who are still struggling to recover from the significant injuries they suffered when two homes blew up April 21.
An NTSB investigation into the exact cause continues, but from the beginning first responders said they believed a natural gas leak in nearby supply lines caused the significant blasts.
While a moving crew removed items from one of the badly damaged homes in the blast zone on Friday, the attorney representing the first injured family has now filed a lawsuit on their behalf. The Dallas firm of Lyons & Simmons is now representing at least two families involved in the incident.
Timothy and Kimberly Nowell, and their teenaged daughter Allison, remain hospitalized undergoing significant care for what are being called substantial injuries.
The lawsuit, which names the City of San Antonio and CPS Energy as defendants, alleges natural gas leaking from the gas pipeline distribution system migrated into their home, ignited and exploded.
That blast happened around 6 p.m. April 21 on Preston Hollow Drive.
“The resulting explosion caused Plaintiffs to suffer severe burns and the excruciating pain that accompanies them. Plaintiffs’ severe injuries will require extensive care and treatment,” the lawsuit reads.
Powerful language in the lawsuit outlines the family’s insistence that CPS be held accountable for the explosions and the life-long heartache from injuries they claim they will have to endure.
“CPS Energy’s conduct, acts, and/or omissions as generally described above involved an extreme degree of risk, considering the probability and magnitude of the potential harm to others,” the lawsuit continued.
The suit alleges the utility has long been aware of dangers but has failed to safeguard Bexar County residents.
Citing a secondary explosion that blasted the neighborhood around 8:20 p.m. and just two doors down, the lawsuit continues “These two events, connected by both time and proximity, demonstrate the severe and ongoing danger CPS Energy’s defective gas distribution system poses to the citizens of San Antonio, a danger that will persist unless and until CPS Energy acts.”
The suit seeks monetary relief that greatly exceeds $1,000,000, requests a jury trial, and accuses the utility of negligence and gross negligence, alleging “The Explosion was not an isolated or unforeseeable event. It was the predictable culmination of CPS Energy’s long pattern of turning a blind eye toward an aging, deteriorating, and leaking gas utility system that it knew was no longer safe.”
Wednesday, KENS 5 reached out to CPS Energy for a comment on the first lawsuit filed, and this was their response: “CPS Energy does not comment on active litigation. “
District 10 City Council representative Marc Whyte said he is hosting another in a series of informal meetings for nearby neighbors Saturday morning.
Praising the reaction of both his constituents, and friends across the city, Whyte said “We are resilient. We are strong. Preston Hollow is strong is what we have been saying.”