Texas Cold Weather Discussion

[jackieschmidt]

I guess we will all remember the big freeze of 2021. I was planning on having a home generator installed in our new house before hurricane season hit, I never thought I would need one for being froze in.

I have lived in the Gulf Coast Area my entire life and have never seen it like this. We recently moved to Tomball just north of Houston and last night it hit 5 degrees. That’s without the wind chill. The entire State is without electricity.

8 inches of snow. we are lucky we have gas log fireplace. We hung sheets on all of the entrances to the living room, and the place is comfortable enough. I have been shoveling snow into buckets, thawing it on the stove and using it to flush the toilets.

Hopefully by tomorrow it will get above freezing.

The truth is, we are not used to this type of weather in this part of the country. It’s no big deal for people who live in regions and go through it every winter.

I guess it is difficult to prepare for things that you think will never happen.

 

[okie]

Hang in there!

 

[Dub]

thoughts are with you Jackie

 

[Bill Norris]

Hang in there Jackie. Prayers.

 

[SEM]

I would like to be a good neighbor and toss you an extension cord but, My thoughts for your plight will have to do this time, Hope you warm up soon and get your power back on

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Texas has created its own island power grid. Everywhere except the entergy controlled beaumont area is an island so when texas power plants freeze up texas has no power. We’re working on getting power over to centerpoint so that will help you. Sorry youre having to go thru this its been hitting -5 here at night, foot of snow on the ground and another foot coming tonite. Its 16deg now and feels like a heat wave

 

[Joe Salt]

Jackie good luck down there, I'm one of the nuts that likes this weather! Only thing I'd have to worry about is someone hacking our Grid system on the electric part. I have generator back up for the house and Garage.
And the Natural gas pump station is 300 yards from the house. We had an ice storm come through here not long after we bought the place so it wasn't pretty. We were in the same boat as you. So good luck and I hope warm weather is headed your way.

Joe Salt

 

[lightman]

As a retired electrical lineman I've worked hundreds of these storms and I feel for you. I know its tough! The last time we were out for more than a few hours was an ice storm in the year 2000. We did the same as you, blanketed off the living room and camped out by the fireplace. We melted snow, cooked on the outside grill, the whole deal. Hopefully you will back on before long.

 

[69mach]

went a week and a half without power 4 or 5 years ago. didn’t have water either since we had no electricity for the well pump. after that i ponied up for a big honda generator and wired in a switch and a pigtail. never doing that crap again if i can help it.

 

[joshb]

Wish I could help! Take care and be careful! We still have power at our house but Kerrville proper is getting the rolling blackouts. Some homes are out completely. Everybody we talk to has frozen pipes.
We took in one family and might get a couple more. It might be sleeping bags on the floor but we still have heat and hot water, so far.

 

[pirate ammo]

We still got power and water at my place in Bastrop County, the only question I got is what about all these
Aerobic sewage systems in Texas. When the sprinkler heads freeze it can't pump the water out of the tank.

 

[varmintshooter]

I guess this global warming is not as bad as people thought. Sounds like the wind is going to start coming out of the south from what I saw on the news, that should help.

 

[kvd]

Georgia gets ice storms every now and then and they wreck havoc - days without power as every loblolly pine in the affected area either falls over or looses branches on power lines. The Southern climes really can't handle this stuff. Hang in there brother. Prayers from Georgia

 

[LHSmith]

Our rural area went 4 days without power back in the '90's - because someone shot up the local substation. Taught us how to be better prepared.
Is it true that part of the problem is the switch to windmills as the primary source and they froze-up? Or is that mostly West Texas?

 

[NateHaler]

Jackie, we had an outfit come to our place during the summer to quote us for a 'standby' generator (from Generac, Kohler, etc.). But the price put us off, because chances are we would never use it. Or so we thought at the time. The best quote we got was $11k installed, for a 22Kw system, plus a couple hundred bucks a year for regular service. It would have run on propane, just as heats our water and stove and nothing else.

We've been real lucky. Our power was out for 10 minutes yesterday. That was it. But I'm going to pursue having a transfer switch installed (as we had in New Hampshire) so we can connect a generator through it and power things in the house instead of running extension cords and power strips. I called 4-5 electricians this year for that service, and not a one of them was interested -- which royally pissed me off. We have a 9,000 watt generator that would easily get us through the typical outage, and traipsing through some snow or rain to turn the thing on is -- to me -- worth $10k for the few times that might ever happen.

Josh in Kerrville, our former neighbors in Fredericksburg have been out of power for 3 days, and several households have moved into the Peach Tree Inn. Had a call a few hours ago and they said the Wal-mart is out of beer, bread, eggs, and milk. (Beer, ha, I guess it's a staple for some!) A buddy in Schertz said the H-E-B there was only going to be open from 12p to 5p today, and they got there at noon and the line to get in was more than an hour wait! And some people in line were indeed wearing shorts.

 

[afret]

Hope it warms up soon and they get the power back on.

 

[Alguapo]

I hope you all detached your garden hoses before the freeze. If not be prepared for broken pipes inside your walls . We have to every winter .

 

[LuvDog]

I’d be worried about freezing pipes. If it still warm enough to drain your lines then do it. Use RV antifreeze in drains and P traps

 

[Dub]

I am in the upper elevations of West virginia and this is normal here. I had a 34K generator installed to cover any issues

 

[john 800]

As someone born and raised in MN I can only imagine the havoc of having to deal with that without resources to deal with it properly, buildings are not designed for it, neither is the power grid or anything else. Hopefully y’all can get by and hang in there till things pass.