Entire state of TX Winter Storm warning 1st time ever

[Flamma]

See, I never did things just to do them. What I look like rubbing my feet in Eddie Murphy's couch for? I got a little more sense than that. But yeah I remember rubbing my feet in Eddie Murphy's couch. Cause he could buy a new one.



Forgive me @Flamma you are one of my favorite posters, but that was just too Rick James-ish for me to pass up.

LOL that's great. It kind of looks goofy when taken out of context.

 

[Flamma]

Forgive me @Flamma you are one of my favorite posters, but that was just too Rick James-ish for me to pass up.

I just want to say one more thing. Because I showed my wife your post and she almost spit up her tea. For the record, I didn't explain it to her. I let her have her chuckle at my expense because it's fun. Why would I ruin that? But just to let you know, I did consider the inconsistency when I wrote it. I was just lazy and usually try to keep posts as short as I can. I know, I know, you're thinking let me find one of his walls of text! That would be epic. But somewhere in there I have a reason for my madness. Peace!

 

[Jammer]

The mild winters in Texas over the past few years have resulted in the insects being really bad in the summertime. This extended freeze has been sorely needed. The bug population should now be somewhat tolerable. Just trying to put a positive spin on the situation.

I love a silver lining to every story.

 

[Diehardblues]

The second largest wind farm and most dependent on that for energy in the US is in Iowa. Ask those people how cold it gets there.

Denmark has been reliant, RELIANT, on wind farms for over a decade.

The spokesperson for ERCOT, the energy controller for Texas, has already disputed these reports blaming this on wind power. He said that is a very small part of the problem.

Texas is being exposed for what it is, the most corrupt state in this country. There are people in leadership roles that should be prosecuted for manslaughter.

You are going to see some reports coming out about the wealthy neighborhoods in central Texas that never lost power and some of the poorer ones never rotated out of the rolling blackout, they were told 40 minutes and it's been over 48 hours. There are going to be a lot of people ashamed of Texas, this was not our finest hour.

"relying on natural gas dwarfed the dent ...." According to ERCOT,

"Texas is a gas state," Michael Webber, an energy resources professor at the University of Texas, told The Texas Tribune.

And "gas is failing in the most spectacular fashion right now." .... "by some estimates, nearly half of the state's natural gas production has screeched to a halt due to the extremely low temperatures," the Tribune reports.


https://news.yahoo.com/texas-power-grid-failed-mostly-065217364.html

 

[Point-of-the-Star]

Been above freezing for the last 2 days during the day down here in the southern Pineywoods region (I'm halfway between Lufkin and Beaumont). It's 34* now. I only lost power on Tuesday for about 9 hours but ran 4 space heaters off the generator and kept the fireplace stoked. I dropped to 67 at one point but by the time I got the fireplace roaring we got up to 70-71. Our low was 8* Monday morning which is when we lost power at 0430.

If anyone wants a layman's knowledge of generator running I got several methods I'm employing as i must run 2, one for my house and one for my pump 300' away. I've done this since Hurricane Rita when we were out of power for 3 weeks. I presently run a 15,000 watt Generac on the house (1st time using it) which is a salvage generator from my uncles barn from this summer. This a so called portable unit with a wheel kit. I need bigger wire and an outdoor wall mounted plug. Presently running a 6/3 wire through a wall conduit to my breaker box. At my well house I put my old 7000 watt Sam's Club Black Max which I used to run the house on. I will be upgrading my situation for convenience and easier use features before next hurricane season.

There are plenty of tables on the internet to help you size your generator(s).

Bob

 

[JayFord]

i live in a state that gets snow storms atleast 2 times a year

you absolutely have to be prepared for it.......the government has to have plans for it and I know Texas hasn't had one of these kinds of storms but i would think they would have some type of plan in place

 

[Diehardblues]

i live in a state that gets snow storms atleast 2 times a year

you absolutely have to be prepared for it.......the government has to have plans for it and I know Texas hasn't had one of these kinds of storms but i would think they would have some type of plan in place

After a 2011 winter storm knocked out power to about 3 million Texans, a federal report warned Texas the same grid debacle would happen again if it didn't adequately weatherize its power infrastructure and increase fuel reserves " The Associated Pressreports.

 

[JayFord]

Actually we had one in 2011 and warnings were made but Texas didn’t take any action.

oh wow!

They should've taken action you never know what can happen......

 

[HungryLion]

After a 2011 winter storm knocked out power to about 3 million Texans, a federal report warned Texas the same grid debacle would happen again if it didn't adequately weatherize its power infrastructure and increase fuel reserves " The Associated Pressreports.

That’s what we call an “oopsie daisy”

 

[Diehardblues]

oh wow!

They should've taken action you never know what can happen......

Texas is only state with their own power grid independent of federal assistance and oversight. . And been deregulated in recent years. They knew this could happen and took no action.

They were reportedly minutes away from a complete shut down state wide to almost 30 million residents until they begin shutting down areas and neighborhoods of their choosing.

 

[Diehardblues]

That’s what we call an “oopsie daisy”

Some might define it as involuntary manslaughter.

 

[Diehardblues]

As then-mayor of Colorado City, Tim Boyd wrote an insensitive message for people desperate for heat, water and power, saying "only the strong will survive and the weak will [perish.]"


"No one owes you [or] your family anything; nor is it the local government's responsibility to support you during trying times like this!" he said. "Sink or swim it's your choice! The City and County, along with power providers or any other service owes you NOTHING! I'm sick and tired of people looking for a damn handout."

I guess he forgot that citizens pay for their electricity service. Needless to say he resigned right after his comment went viral.

https://news.yahoo.com/texas-mayor-resigns-telling-residents-173110576.html

 

[Point-of-the-Star]

Some might define it as involuntary manslaughter.

Over 20 dead in Galveston County according to an interview I saw yesterday with the county judge.

 

[CouchCoach]

They admitted that they didn't inspect in person ANY of the generator plants before this winter and didn't require any minimum level of weather protection.

And the governor just now shut down any natural gas shipments going out of state. The operative words there are JUST NOW. Seems that nobody was watching anybody in this or requiring any kind of reporting.

You know what doesn't care about Don't Mess With Texas? A winter storm and this is not the first Vortex to drop down from Canada.

They're reporting out of Austin that the Chairperson of ERCOT, in Michigan, is refusing any contact for her and the board, she stated they're too busy working the problem. I think we are on the verge of ERCOTgate.

A blind basketball team couldn't drop this many balls. The best so far has been a spokesperson blaming the forecasters for missing the severity of the storm as the first mistake. Unbelievable.

 

[nightrain]

I feel terrible for all you Texans having to fight through this ordeal. Looks like tomorrow will be the last of the frigid day/night temps, but not as severe as what you feel now. Hang in there.

 

[Diehardblues]

I feel terrible for all you Texans having to fight through this ordeal. Looks like tomorrow will be the last of the frigid day/night temps, but not as severe as what you feel now. Hang in there.

Unfortunately even as most are receiving their power back the next debacle is our water. Hundreds of thousands are without and or had waterline bust and most if not all counties are under boil orders.

The water issues could go on for months. We know of several in this area alone who found themselves wading in freezing water in their house while the power was out.

We’ve had Winter Storms before but never without power so long. Not unless we had a hurricane .

And this is an area where not everyone has fireplaces and few with generators , etc to brave the subfreezing temperature. Being without power during warmer weather isn’t as life threatening unless your on oxygen or a dialysis which filled our hospitals.

 

[JIMMYBUFFETT]

I'm finally back in the office today. We shut down early Friday out here in West Texas and today is our first day back. We began rolling blackouts Saturday night at about 6:30 and are still dealing with them today. We lost water Monday night and still have none with estimates putting us in to next week before we have it again. I drove over the Conch river yesterday and it was frozen half way across. The rolling blackouts have given us enough power to keep our house above freezing, but that's about it. No TV, internet, or phone services are working at my place. I burned a half cord of wood in 3 days. Happily my office power appears to be staying on and we've got internet there. I'm estimating we got 10 inches of snow here from varying reports. The main roads are in pretty good shape, but if you turn off into a neighborhood they're nightmares. UPS, FedEx, US Mail, and trash services also aren't running here. And now reports are coming in that we're running out of gas. My son is going to school in Nacogdoches TX. and he's been trying to find a pump all day with no luck.

 

[Turk]

I'm finally back in the office today. We shut down early Friday out here in West Texas and today is our first day back. We began rolling blackouts Saturday night at about 6:30 and are still dealing with them today. We lost water Monday night and still have none with estimates putting us in to next week before we have it again. I drove over the Conch river yesterday and it was frozen half way across. The rolling blackouts have given us enough power to keep our house above freezing, but that's about it. No TV, internet, or phone services are working at my place. I burned a half cord of wood in 3 days. Happily my office power appears to be staying on and we've got internet there. I'm estimating we got 10 inches of snow here from varying reports. The main roads are in pretty good shape, but if you turn off into a neighborhood they're nightmares. UPS, FedEx, US Mail, and trash services also aren't running here. And now reports are coming in that we're running out of gas. My son is going to school in Nacogdoches TX. and he's been trying to find a pump all day with no luck.

This is why claiming you should not be prepared for infrequent events kind of dies in the face of real life.

 

[nightrain]

Unfortunately even as most are receiving their power back the next debacle is our water. Hundreds of thousands are without and or had waterline bust and most if not all counties are under boil orders.

The water issues could go on for months. We know of several in this area alone who found themselves wading in freezing water in their house while the power was out.

We’ve had Winter Storms before but never without power so long. Not unless we had a hurricane .

And this is an area where not everyone has fireplaces and few with generators , etc to brave the subfreezing temperature. Being without power during warmer weather isn’t as life threatening unless your on oxygen or a dialysis which filled our hospitals.

Dang, your water mains are buried pretty shallow and just unable to withstand frozen temps for extended time. That sucks. With warmer weather will come renewed hope.

I encourage everyone outside of Texas to reach out to a helping hand organization that is currently mobilized to assist with this problem. I have selected the Salvation Army, but there are many more localized organizations as well if you are drawn to a more a more personal desire to help.

Be safe, be well, Texas.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-to...ther-emergency-power-outages-snow-2020-02-18/

 

[CouchCoach]

Unfortunately even as most are receiving their power back the next debacle is our water. Hundreds of thousands are without and or had waterline bust and most if not all counties are under boil orders.

The water issues could go on for months. We know of several in this area alone who found themselves wading in freezing water in their house while the power was out.

We’ve had Winter Storms before but never without power so long. Not unless we had a hurricane .

Part of this is that houses are not built to withstand this kind of weather, just the opposite. 2021 is going to be a year of extreme weather from both sides and I don't know of too many regions that build houses to withstand both.

We've had a weather anomaly like this before but they're quick hitters and move on, we are not built to handle something that stays this long. With the constant temp under freezing and houses losing power and heat, perfect storm for freezing pipes.

Down here in the Hill Country, the problem is the pipes responsible for distributing the processed water to the pumping stations burst.

We've seen the importance of our first responders to a pandemic, down here we're seeing a new first responder and these poor people are flat worn out and some are just catching some shuteye when they're ordered to and they're right back at it. They know lives are in jeopardy and this is more frustrating to them than to us. We've moved on from frustrated to pissed and it didn't take us long to get there.

Now there's an additional problem of the Dying of Thirst Syndrome, gulping water. Only it's power and some peoples' homes are down in the 30's and it's going to take a lot of power to get it back to just tolerable and convincing people to walk it up slowly to conserve and keep it from going out again is no easy task. Especially since the stories are already circulating in Austin that the rich people didn't lose power. I do not know if that's fact or just part of how crazy the whole country has become but everyone I know in Austin is beyond angry and looking for an outlet.

As the stories unfold down here, that's when we'll need the well wishers from the area of the country used to this kind of weather. This is going to get really ugly. Take people in a bad mood already and subject them to this and the water isn't the only thing boiling.