Texas winter storm.

I finally got power after being without power since Monday 2am. On Monday morning when I woke up I was so excited to actually see snow! Went outside to try to build my first snowman, but it was like powdered snow and was never able to put a head on the body, then the wind came and blew it all away. Eventually I noticed that the power hasn't been coming back at all. A few hours later I see that the power company tweeted that those without power to prepare to be without power for the rest of the day. The issue is that I live at an all electric apartment so the only thing I could do to keep warm was layered clothing which sucked. In the meantime I had a heck of a time making tea by heating up water using candles which was kinda fun. I hope the power lasts, as another winter storm is suppose to hit tonight. It was nice seeing the snow, sucks that I wasn't able to have fun with it due to having no warm place to get to.


Update @8:30pm cst: I have no more water and my power just went out again, happy that at least I got some warmth out of it.
To be clear: by no water I mean water running on the faucet and toilet and such, I do have plenty of drinking water thankfully
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Lacius
We also got a bad snow storm, and a lot of people in my state dealt with rolling blackout issues. Fortunately, we never lost power, but we were encouraged to turn down the heat to avoid having to do rolling blackouts.
 
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Xzi
That's gotta be real rough for Texans, I'm sure a lot of people down there don't even own a heavy coat. We're used to the cold here in Colorado, but even still it's been well below the yearly average the last few days, hovering around -5 F. A water mane broke a few houses down and we were without running water for about two days. Fun times.
 
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Chary
The powdered snow was so cool!!! But yeah man, I wanted to build a snowman too but it was like trying to build one from flour...

My powers been out since 5am. It’s really cold in here and it sucks. Worth it to see snow for the first time but still seriously crappy to deal with.
 
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AmandaRose
So as I am an idiot can someone explain why a bit of snow is causing power cuts? Coming from a country where it snows really badly pretty much every winter with zero disruption to the power or indeed to anything really I don't get why you are having power issues lol.

I think the last time the power went out at my house was about 8 years ago and that was down to a fault at the local power station and had nothing to do with the weather.
 
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Aneki
@Chary Oh goodness! I hope you're able to stay warm!! and I do agree it was totally worth it to see snow for the first time ever, it was so nice!

Small update, I don't have water anymore, but I still have power at least!

@AmandaRose In Texas it never gets this cold, so the power companies were very ill prepared for this emergency situation.
 
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Seliph
@AmandaRose
So over in Texas they almost never see snow, it's mostly warm all the time. Because of that, there's no real infrastructure made to combat snow in the region.

Bad infrastructure combined with a once in a decade snowstorm in a mostly dry, warm place = bad news

It's like if it suddenly just started snowing in the desert

Of course, I don't live in Texas so this is just my assumption. I'm sure someone else would have better input.
 
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AmandaRose
Yep I get that it hardly ever snows in Texas but what is actually causing the power issues. Is it simply more electricity is being used because people are trying to keep their houses warm. If so why are the power companies not prepared for such instances?
Or is it because the snow has damaged power lines thus causing supply issues? Ect
 
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Aneki
From what I understand it's both, people using up more energy than what they can produce and equipment getting frozen over. Why they weren't prepared for this emergency? That I do not know.
 
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D
I find the concept of "first time seeing snow" amazing. Where we live people make jokes about all 4 seasons in one day...

Also when you say "don't have water" is it safe to assume you also don't have a stash of clean drinkable water stored away in case of something happening? (Such as filling the tub at the first sign of trouble, or like I do a 5 gallon jug) Because I can understand not being winter ready when snow doesn't happen, but the no water thing blows my mind.
 
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Aneki
Should probably make it clear, by no water I mean that there's no water running in the pipes. Thankfully I do have plenty of drinking water, bought some 24 packs a few days ago so I'm good on that end
 
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G
I'm in Lubbock Texas it's the first time it hit a negative temperature in 30 years.
 
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Chary
Dropping to seriously cold temps here. I can barely get LTE signal at all. No electric and no water. I want to see accountability for this mess. Being ill prepared as a state is one thing, but this goes beyond that. The snow warning was made a week in advance. Nothing was done.
 
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D
Ok, good to know. (I was worried) I've done the no water flowing in the pipes this year. Between my house having straight plumbing problems, to the line freezing at my Dad's, and my friend's house having issues with the pipes freezing in the walls... But this shit up here just happens, but it's good to know "most" people are/where prepared for things going sideways because it does happen. This time it was fucking crazy cold down there but next time could be just system failures or the like.

I just read a post from my partners cousin who is living in Dallas and what a shit show things are. My heart goes out to everyone getting fucked by all this.
 
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Chary
Power back in Houston. City appears to be at 59% residents with power. Hopefully the other Texans here had the same luck.
 
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Aneki
My power has been going on and off all night. It's currently off right now, and I hope a lot of other people have been able to get power as well to keep warm!
 
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Aneki
My power seems to finally be stable, hasn't gone off for the past 24hrs and water is finally back and it's slowly getting back to normal pressure. I hope everyone else that also experienced this horrible power outage during this cold time has been able to keep warm as well!

GG Texas for giving me my first snow! :)
 
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AncientBoi
With the frozen toilets, there a wonder if people are getting sick from not being able to use them. I was once snowed in my home in Tennessee. Snow half the up my Den's windows [lowest part of the house] that we couldn't get out. 3 days until a neighbor came by and helped us. Thank god I for some reason, took in a cord of wood for the fireplace, THE day before the storm. As far as the water, It was still running, as we let it trickle from the faucets. But from what I see in Texas, WoW.
 
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