Texas Power Outage/ Rolling blackouts

NinjaPoodle · #1 02-19-2021, 01:27 AM

I’m sure this goes without saying but please make sure to check on your members and their families who are dealing with this urgent situation right now.

PKT4LIFE · #2 02-19-2021, 02:46 AM

I was in Dallas over this past holiday weekend. I experience the snow, cold and rolling blackouts first hand. My hotel had long black outs (6-8 hours) followed by short intervals of returned power (2-4 hours). Most fast food and other businesses were closed. I managed to drive to a Target, and stocked up on "cold" foods (pre-made sandwiches, Oscar Myers Lunchables). I placed my cold items in the car rental trunk to keep cold since the temp was around 15 degrees.

Items inside those large gas stations, that sell everything, were wiped out. It was surreal and I was so glad to leave on Tuesday. My main worry was where to get my coffee. LOL

Honestly, I was not that cold in my hotel, probably due to the fact the hotel was newly built and well insulated. What pissed me off was the view I had of the skyscrapers in downtown Dallas, Downtown Dallas was always lit, no rolling black outs there.

SWTXBelle · #3 02-19-2021, 12:01 PM

Well, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and I think for the first time in a while it isn't an oncoming train!
We've done fairly well. I did have a pipe burst in my laundry room, but the plumber was able to turn off the water to just that area, so we've been able to flush toilets and take showers. We were in the dark for much of the week, but have now had power for a solid 24 hours.
The real work - political - begins next week, when we try and make sure the missteps which resulted in this fiasco never happen again.

TX_Watcher · #4 02-19-2021, 12:23 PM

We finally got our power back yesterday and were very pleased to see our water was back on this morning. Oh the joys of a shower! We were lucky that none of our pipes burst. Feeling great sadness and concern for those in our community that are less privileged with well-built homes. Was so sad to see a news story about an underprivileged couple that had to sleep outside in their car with it running because their house was just too cold to bear. People have really suffered and there will be a lot to say once we get the immediate crisis behind ALL of us!

NinjaPoodle · #5 02-19-2021, 03:33 PM

I posted this on my Facebook but I’m going to post it here too. How to help:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/...torm-blackouts

thetalady · #6 02-19-2021, 03:50 PM

It is quite an experience when it is 3 degrees outside, 45 degrees inside your home and no power. We were without power and heat for 3 days, other than an hour or two here and there. Thank goodness we insisted on a gas stove and fireplace when we built our house! Those saved us. Our homes are absolutely not insulated for this kind of cold that lasts for this long. It is 40 today and will be in the 60's by Monday. We get winter out of the way in the space of a week!

andthen · #7 02-19-2021, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thetalady

It is quite an experience when it is 3 degrees outside, 45 degrees inside your home and no power. We were without power and heat for 3 days, other than an hour or two here and there. Thank goodness we insisted on a gas stove and fireplace when we built our house! Those saved us. Our homes are absolutely not insulated for this kind of cold that lasts for this long. It is 40 today and will be in the 60's by Monday. We get winter out of the way in the space of a week!

I can't even imagine. I'm glad you at least have a gas stove for cooking and a gas fireplace to provide you some heat. Sending you and everyone impacted by this in Texas well wishes.

LaneSig · #8 02-21-2021, 05:46 PM

So- I lost power at 4 am Monday morning and did not get it back until Wednesday around 2 pm. I live in a condo complex with 9 buildings, 14 condos to a building. Pipes froze all over our complex. My building got hit the worst. Somehow, my condo was one of only 3 in our building that did not have a pipe burst.

All the water was turned off on Wednesday and we've been told that they have no idea when we will get water turned back on.

I've been helping neighbors pull up soaked carpets and pads, take out ruined furniture and clothes, etc..

One of my best friends is a hotel manager and I will be showering there or at my gym in the morning for the foreseeable future. Two of the teachers in my building have told me to bring them any of my laundry and they will wash it.

I know even without power for a couple of days and no water for however long, I was incredibly lucky.

Kevin · #9 02-22-2021, 03:11 PM

I'm in Oklahoma.

You would not know that just last week, we were completely shut down. We did fare better than Texas though. I am in OKC, we had about 31 water main breaks. A lot of our friends experienced low water pressure. We really weren't affected where I am.

Over the last few days, we've been trying to ensure pipes don't burst (northerners would be shocked that our building codes allow for pipes on exterior walls with no insulation). So having to run faucets 24/7 has contributed greatly to our water efforts. We were told to hand wash our dishes and laundry, which we did.

Tulsa had 298 water main breaks. My SIL lives there and is without water.

Some friends living in Houston haven't had water for a good long while. Their power has come back on.

Texas politicians should be pilloried over this. The reason they were hit so much harder than places like Oklahoma, was that they had disconnected from the regional power grid. This was billed as being in Texans best interests so power companies could avoid regulation.

What Texans are waking up to is that they've been sold a bill of goods and that they need to make some major investments in their infrastructure and then rejoin the regional power grid ASAP.

And as of this moment, it's 61 degrees and if you look out the window, there are a few melting snow drifts but many fewer clues that just 6 days ago, we were completely shut down.

APhi2KD · #10 02-22-2021, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin

Texas politicians should be pilloried over this. The reason they were hit so much harder than places like Oklahoma, was that they had disconnected from the regional power grid. This was billed as being in Texans best interests so power companies could avoid regulation.

What Texans are waking up to is that they've been sold a bill of goods and that they need to make some major investments in their infrastructure and then rejoin the regional power grid ASAP.

Yup.
I turned off the water in my home and my son and I stayed with my parents for their safety. Built in 1976, it’s seen “real” albeit Texas winters before. But the woodpile disintegrated over two decades of winters largely too warm to have a fire. We had little firewood and couldn’t get the living room above 50 degrees. When we ran out of wood it was 44, their kitchen was 33. My dad is wheelchair bound and it’s a big production to get him, his pills, etc., packed and out, but we moved them to our house which had heat but no water. Even their phones were down. They could not have called for help if they wanted to. If we’d still been overseas, they may have cuddled up, gone to sleep and never awakened.

I grew up with a couple good snows per year, frequents ice storms and many, many power outages. This was incomprehensible and criminal. But when you elect climate deniers, you’re not going to get much winterization, are ya?