If it was running when the power outage happened, that may have "fried" the control panel.
She needs to have it checked by an appliance repair person to see if that is so.
God bless your efforts.
Ran across this today. Ge dishwasher normal light just blinks and beeps when latch is locked. I had to replace the control module and it repaired issues right away. Hope this helps
Check the float that tells it whether to turn the water on or off on a fill cycle. Check the switch also. Its usually on a corner of the machine. - Great diagnostics!
There is a spring (or two, one on each side) that help return the door to the closed position (up) - I suspect that one or both of these springs have worn out/broken as this looks like an older appliance. If this is a built -in model, you should be able to slid the dishwasher out and look on the sides to see the springs.