Texas woman, 67, is trapped in her home for five days after it was surrounded by downed power lines following storm

A woman has been trapped inside her Texas home for five days after what she was told were live power lines fell onto her property during a storm. 

Natalie Washington and her grandson were trapped inside their house after extreme weather brought a utility line down across their property last Thursday.

Strong winds in Houston last week caused the line to fall and start a fire after it fell onto a tree near the front yard of the 67-year-old, knocking out the power. 

The Houston Fire Department responded to the fire and quickly extinguished the flames, telling Washington to stay away from the wires incase they were live. 

After leaving, Washington said firefighters put yellow tape around her home which left her too afraid to leave the property or allow her husband to come back inside. 

Utility companies then ignored Washington's pleas for help, leaving her trapped inside her home for almost a week over fears she'd be zapped to death if she stepped outside.  

Strong winds in Houston last week caused the line to fall and cause a fire after it fell onto a tree near the front yard of the 67-year-old, knocking out the power

Natalie Washington and her grandson, both seen, were been trapped inside their house after a storm brought a utility line down across their property last Thursday

Washington, who also has diabetes, feared the stress and the heat would raise her blood pressure 

Speaking to ABC13, she said: 'The firefighters told me not to touch my front gate or walk around because I don't know where the electric current is flowing. 

I'm too terrified. I'm not going to even try it. When you know you're trapped somewhere and you don't have an option to leave, it breaks you down. 

'All my husband could do is sit on the street and talk to me while I'm sitting on the porch.'

Images captured by the outlet show the wires draped across her driveway, front fence and part of her yard on Monday. 

Washington told the outlet that she had called CenterPoint Energy dozens of times before they finally responded to her address on Monday to make repairs. 

When the repair crews arrived on site, they discovered that the line that had fallen had been a telecommunications line and not live electricity. 

Crews on site told ABC13 that firefighters wouldn't have been able to distinguish what was a cable wire from a power line. 

Washington, who also has diabetes , feared the stress and the heat would raise her blood pressure

Images captured by the outlet show the wires draped across her driveway, front fence and part of her yard on Monday

When the repair crews arrived on site, they discovered that the line that had fallen had been a telecommunications line and not live electricity

In a statement, they said: 'We sent a crew on site. They assessed the situation and determined the downed wire is a telecommunications line and not a live electric line.

'Restoration work is underway to restore the outage affecting this customer.' 

Washington is now happy to have her power restored and for her family to be able to enter the property.

Nearly 1 million people were left without power across Houston following the severe weather last week. 

On Monday, more than 350,000 households across the city started the week without electricity. 

The devastating thunderstorm that barreled through the area on Thursday shattered windows, downed trees and claimed at least seven lives. 

A U.S. Postal Service truck is flipped on its side at the intersection of Bingle and Sowden in Houston

A car sits under fallen bricks in the aftermath of a severe thunderstorm Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston

As a new week kicked off, temperatures climbed to a high of around 90 degrees and introduced a new threat - oppressively hot and sticky conditions. 

Thousands of homes were plunged into darkness after high-voltage transmission towers were torn apart and power lines damaged. 

CenterPoint deployed more than 7,000 workers to focus on 24/7 restoration efforts following the devastation.

In a news release, CenterPoint announced it continued to be on track for 'substantial completion of restoration' by Wednesday night.