72-year-old man struggles through Arizona heat waves without electricity, running water

PHOENIX (KPHO/Gray News) — A 72-year-old man in Arizona has been struggling during the summer’s heat waves while living in a home without air conditioning or running water.

Carlos Galves said the inside of his Phoenix home is often hotter inside than it is outside.

During July in Phoenix, nearly every day measured 110 degrees or above with more record-breaking heat expected in August.

Galves said he has been living without air conditioning, electricity or running water for about a year. Despite his efforts to get utilities restored, Galves said the home is around 120 years old and won’t even pass a state inspection.

“It is already too old of a house, maybe it was one of the first houses in the neighborhood,” he said in Spanish.

On the hottest days, Galves said his home can reach up to 120 degrees inside.

“When my electricity was cut off, it was almost a week, and I lost 20 pounds,” he said.

Galves had gotten his utilities through the neighboring home. After it was sold and demolished, he was left without power.

“There we turned on electricity for the two of us; we paid half and half,” he said.

Galves said he has learned to live under these conditions by relying on water, ice and gas for a generator that he pays friends to give him.

“Four or five hours with whatever we can reach with a small generator that is out here,” he said. “We put gas in, and with that generator, we put the TV on for a while or we put the fans on.”

Galves said he suffers from arthritis and can no longer work to afford rent at a new place.

“I am afraid that I might get another heat stroke at some point. I think it could also be blood pressure, poor eating, poor sleep, stress,” he said.

Galves said he has had to make hard decisions this summer, having to choose between water and food. In the heat, he said the decision is easy and he prefers to pay for water.

“Arizona got extremely hard to live in with this great heat. I haven’t seen it as bad as today,” he said.

Galves said his plan is to go to Mexico where his family lives. He hopes he won’t have to live through another summer like this one at his current home.