A man who was on a mission to check on his sister's cat after Hurricane Harvey was electrocuted in the floodwaters of Houston.
Andrew Pasek, 25, was with a friend when he stepped on a live electrical wire in ankle-deep water, his parents said Thursday.
Pasek, who fell into the lamppost attached to the live wire, used his last words to warn his friend to stay back when he moved in to help.
“He said, ‘Don’t touch me. I’m dying,’” according to his mother, JoDell Pasek, who lost her other son to a drunken driver in the 1990s.
Pasek was the one who convinced his sister Alyssa Pasek to adopt a dog and a Maine Coon named d’Artagna, the Houston Chronicle reported.
When his sister’s home was flooded, she fled with her fiancé and their dog, leaving d’Artagna behind because they didn’t have a carrier for the cat.
Andrew Pasek, who lived in northwest Houston, parked his car outside the community where his sister lived and started wading in the water when he felt the deadly electric current.
Now his family members are warning others to avoid the same fate.
His mother JoDell Pasek told ABC: “You have to think a little more clearly when you're trying to rescue people or rescue something, or help because you don't know what's in the water."
Al Pasek said his son was “a remarkable young man” who was always rescuing animals that needed a home.
He also once saved his own father’s life when he choked on a piece of food and couldn’t breathe for more than a minute.
“This is absolutely devastating,” Al Pasek said of his son’s death.
Al and JoDell Pasek want to scatter their son’s ashes at Mount Rushmore, where they had long planned to take a family trip. “Maybe we’ll still take that family trip,” a tearful JoDell said.
Hurricane Harvey, which made landfall on Friday evening as a Category 4 storm, has claimed more than three dozen lives, with the death toll expected to rise.
More than 87,000 homes have been damaged, and 7,000 across Texas have been destroyed.
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Family warns about unseen dangers after son is electrocuted in flood waters
Family warns about unseen dangers after son is electrocuted in flood waters (KTRK)
By Steven Romo
Wednesday, August 30, 2017 03:57PM
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A family whose son died in floods brought on by Tropical Storm Harvey is pleading with first responders, volunteers and residents to be aware of unseen dangers beneath the water.
Tuesday around 2:30 p.m., Andrew Pasek, 25, and his friend Shawn went to a home in the Bear Creek 1 subdivision near Highway 6 and Clay Road. They were there to get Pasek's sister's cat left behind in the rush to evacuate their home.
Eyewitness News Reporter Steven Romo sat down with Andrew's mother, Jodell Pasek, Wednesday. Not even 24 hours after her son died, she wanted to get the message out about the unseen electrical danger (how come these people knew very little about the electrocution risk? In a flooded home, stay away from it until the power has been completely removed).
Andrew stepped in the yard unaware that a landscape light electrified the water.
The landscape lights are notoriously ill equipped to prevent electrocutions during flooding. We are certain in Texas (where the electrical standards are very low) they install them using cheap material and methods. For example the Texas electric safety code (Texas Electrical Safety and Licensing Act) exempts the installation of landscape lights!! Here what it says:
Sec. 1305.003. Exemptions; Application of Chapter.
(a) This chapter does not apply to:
(13) landscape irrigation installers, as necessary to perform the installation and maintenance of irrigation control systems, and landscapers, as necessary to perform the installation and maintenance of low-voltage exterior lighting
As we always say: Welcome to Texas, now pray for your life.
Texas has the highest number of dead workers and highest number traffic deaths and highest traffic death rate. It is a messy state!
This poor guy was doomed to die.
He stumbled and grabbed the lamppost, using his last words to warn his friend to stay away, his mother said.
"They couldn't even help my son. They couldn't resuscitate him. He was in electrified water," she said.
Jodell lost her oldest son in a car accident years ago. She's determined to get the warning out, hoping to save even one life if she can.
"You have to think a little more clearly when you're trying to rescue people or rescue something, or help because you don't know what's in the water," she said. "I'll be honest with you, I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't have them at home to take care of anymore, but I have to go on with my life."
As the waters eventually roll back and reveal all the damage and devastation left behind, moving on may become even more difficult, but the Paseks are leaning on family and friends. They're an example of how to find strength in one another. You can donate to the family here.
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With floodwaters continuing to plague the city of Houston after Hurricane Harvey, we're updating these tips for how to deal with a flooded basement. This post was originally published on October 30, 2012, in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.
Everybody's in a hurry to get things back to normal after a disaster, but when it comes to electrical safety, it pays to step back and carefully evaluate things before moving ahead with any work. If your house has been severely damaged by floodwaters, here are some pointers to help keep you safe:
1. Never go into a flood-damaged basement or a basement filled with water until the utility company, fire department, or a licensed electrician has removed the home's electrical meter from its socket.
Why: Removing the meter from the socket is the only way the house can be completely disconnected from the grid. Even if you've lost power, you can still be electrocuted in a flooded basement if someone is running a generator nearby and back-feeding electricity into a storm damaged grid. You can't count on a storm-damaged circuit breaker or disconnect switch to protect you. The only safe way is to remove the meter.
2. Once the building is pumped out and you begin recovery efforts, keep in mind that all flooded electrical equipment is almost certainly ruined.
Why: Very few things in a house are rated to survive submersion, even briefly. The following will almost certainly need to be replaced:
- Plastic-sheathed building wire (often referred to by the trade name Romex)
- Armored cable (often referred to by the trade name BX)
- Circuit panels and circuit breakers
- Fuse boxes and fuses
- Sub panels
- Switched disconnect boxes
- Switches
- Outlet receptacles
- Motors
- Circuit boards
- Non-submersible pumps
- Blowers and fans
- Lights
- Heaters
- Air conditioners
- Furnaces
- Boilers
A licensed air conditioning or a heating/cooling contractor can advise you whether your heating or cooling equipment can be salvaged. It depends upon the type of equipment, the depth of the floodwaters, and the duration of submersion. Many people try to salvage appliances such as dehumidifiers, refrigerators, and freezers that have been in flooded basements. Some do go on to live a post-flood life, but it's risky: They can be extremely dangerous to operate after they've been flooded.
3: Pay increased attention to grounding and bonding, and after the flood ask an electrician to conduct a thorough survey the system.
Why: There are two aspects to every home's electrical system: the parts designed to carry electrical current during normal operation, and the parts designed to carry current safely to ground should something go wrong. The latter is known as the home's grounding and bonding system and it can be severely damaged by floodwaters. Only a licensed electrician is equipped and trained to evaluate the damage.
All metal components of a home's electrical system should be carefully and replaced if necessary. For example, metal electrical boxes that have been submerged may rust and the rust on the box prevents an adequate connection to the home's grounding system.
4. Even after the building is fully disconnected from the grid, never go into a flooded building alone. Put on chest waders, and bring a bright flashlight that clips to your hat or your waders so you don't have to carry it. But most importantly, have someone standing by in case you need help.
Why: Flooded buildings are dark, slippery, and disorienting. It's easy to get hurt or even drown in one. Trust me. As a volunteer, I once went into a flood-damaged basement and stepped into an uncovered sump pit, finding myself in water up to my chin. I freed myself from that, only to step into a second uncovered pit.