EL PASO, Texas -- This should be an exciting time for Hazel Castaneda, moving into her new townhome, and setting up her 1-year-old daughter's room. Instead she is worried, because when she called Wednesday to turn on the gas, she was surprised by what she heard.

"They told me they wouldn't be able to set up 'til the 11th, Nov. 11, which is next Tuesday," Castaneda told KFOX.

That means no hot water, no gas to cook on the stove, and only cold air coming from the vent.

"It's very upsetting, very upsetting and frustrating," said Castaneda. "The gas company, it's like the most important thing in the apartment, because everything is gas here, and I can't get them to turn it on."

"Usually people have a tendency of waiting until we have the first cold snap, and we get inundated with people that either need their new service lit up or for whatever reason we need to re-light their services," said Pete Parraz with the Texas Gas Service.

Parraz said they are doing what they can to get to Castaneda and that part of the problem was Hurricane Ike months ago.

"Galveston Island is part of our service area. We did send some service techs down there, which reduced the amount of personnel that we had in El Paso," said Parraz.

Until then, Castaneda and her young child will have to wait to fully move in and make this their home.

"Now I have to go to my father's to take a shower, to give my daughter a bath, to cook her food, and it's very, very frustrating," she said.

Castaneda said she was told that she could pay an extra fee and get someone out to her home faster, but being a full-time worker, student, and parent, Castaneda can't afford the extra $50.