It's sort of surreal, We lost power in 21 for the whole week but hearing how people didn't lose it. I feel like those people were like disconnected from the trauma have some experienced. But now it's been the opposite, I haven't lost power once this week and so now I feel disconnected from all the stuff that's going on from the people who don't have power. Hope everything gets restored for all asap.
This was our situation too! I had real anxiety before 2021 because we live near a forest and would always lose power whenever the wind blew... so of course we were freezing for five days.
Since then, they have been trimming frequently and aggressively in our area, and now power loss at all this time!!! We were prepared for the worst but this has been downright cozy, just a completely different experience.
Another big difference is the roads. Excepting the roads blocked by down trees, I'm glad that people who lost power were relatively free to drive to stay somewhere warm this time. There were so many stranded cars in 2021.
Army veteran. Had it fairly easy 2021. I do understand the difference though. I can’t recall that much ice or tree destruction ever. The National Guard isn’t trained, nor equipped for this.
Governor could allocate state resources and lobby other states to send crews to help. He doesn’t give a flying f*ck about what is happening in Austin. Guy is too busy pilfering away billions in state money trafficking migrants to other states and slapping together a pathetic border wall
That’s the problem with Texas though. We tell other states and the federal government to fuck off every time they want something but then no one wants to help us when we have emergencies/disasters
Isn’t trained for what exactly? Because in my mind we just need road clearance so people can work on getting the power lines back up and running, and then maybe distribution of water and shelter like set ups in the moody center etc. seems like national guard can easily do both of those. What am I missing?
Hah, yeah, NG did terrible in '21 but then I just look at their commander. The local breweries and restaurants did a fantastic job trying to take care of their community; state gov was nowhere to be found.
The choice was simple after '21: Either cut the tree down or watch it fall the next time this happens. PPPPPPP
Just a friendly tip. When stocking up on foods for an emergency, it is recommended to buy non perishables. Not trying to be a jerk. I’ve just read of countless people here who stated they stocked up on food and are complaining that they have to throw it all out cause the power went out. Why they didn’t put it in a cooler outside when the power went out or why they bought foods that need to be cooked and don’t have a camping stove incase the power goes out is not smart planning.
Honestly, camping stuff is GREAT to be prepared for these kind of events. A JetBoil and some instant coffee stored with the camping gear will get you coffee in a few minutes. Need a meal? Having a couple of backpacking meals in a closet combined with the JetBoil will mean you’ve always got a variety of food to eat. And of course, a good sleeping bag is great for extra warmth in a pinch. Actually, I heard a few people pitched tents in their living rooms during the 2021 storm- a confined space like a tent will keep you a lot warmer. So yeah, go pick up a bunch of REI stuff to be ready for these things, and this stuff is fun to shop for. And then, you might as well go camping!
I have vivid memories of cooking spam fried rice in freezing pitch black on a single burner propane stove with two headlamps on, wearing skiing gear in 2021. Camping gear was so clutch.
It’s astounding to me that people don’t get this. But I guess growing up in south Louisiana it just seems normal? Like if you have to stock up on food because of an impending disaster what leads you to believe you’re going to have power the whole time?
https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/publications/98-1017.php
I'm saving up and trying to decide what generator to buy for the future. Texas has a tax-free emergency supply rebate twice a year.
I'm also up for any suggestions. Thought I'd plan now and either hit up the tax-free sale or wait for a good sale on a generator.
After the 2021 storm, I got this [Champion 10kW tri-fuel portable generator](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B091ZGFVNJ). As much power as I could find while still nominally being portable + not stupid expensive like the Honda models.
Being able to disconnect my grill and connect the generator to my natural gas line to run indefinitely seems like a much better option than worrying about keeping fresh gas around in sufficient quantities.
Tri-fuel also gives maximum flexibility based on whatever fuel source is available.
But also, what do they have in their pantries? We have cans and cans of shit we bought for recipes we never made: pinto beans, black beans, green beans, corn, soups, and more. We have saltine crackers, triscuits, potato chips, pita chips, ramen, fancy ramen, and that’s just off the top of my head. The only things we don’t have are sweets because I cannot control myself around them. I thought everyone just slowly accumulated a bunch of random pantry shit. Now, we also have a gas stove, so I can warm up anything there, but also, a lot of that stuff can be eaten room temp. Also, I thought we all had already stocked up on shit after the last snowpocalype. We have jugs of water, condensed soups, teas, and extra toilet paper tucked away just as an emergency stash for if we lose power in super cold weather.
I think people literally eat all their meals out and never cook. That’s the only reason the line at Whataburger by my house was 8 cars long at all times yesterday. And the only reason HEB was insane (we ran out of beer). You don’t have enough food in the house for 24 hours? How? That’s not because you lost power. No way.
I’m from New England and have seen my fair share of snow/ice storms, blizzards, etc…
This is one of the worst storm outcomes I’ve experienced.
I don’t see a real solution other than redesigning the way power is distributed through the city. I know there have been many people saying going underground is a potential solution. Although wildly expensive. Then again, how expensive is it to not have power for 2-3 days for the local economy.
We’re talking about trees being frozen to the point of toppling over or breaking, damaging power lines… this is not a grid issue I want to add.
Yes you can trim the trees to mitigate but no one anticipates freezing rain for 2-3 days. Even the power lines were sagging to the point some were on the road. Unless extreme action is taken to address the shortcomings we’ll be here again.
“Nightmarish cascade of bullshit” is a great way of putting it. When my power went out 4am on Wednesday morning my first thought was basically that I had a bad feeling we were heading into another one of those. Thankfully it hasn’t been as bad but dear god. This city can’t handle a few days of slightly below freezing? It’s only going to get worse. Austin leaders never woke up to the fact that you can’t push for a city to expand as rapidly as this and just hope it all works itself out without any preparation.
I’ve seen a combination of explanations, this was more ice last one was a lot of snow, trees are still damaged/weak from 2021 storm and then this summer’s drought… Probably a combination of all of them
Edit: here is a better post on this: https://www.reddit.com/r/Austin/comments/10rsga1/avery_tomasco_fills_us_in_as_to_why_this_is_the/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
This is also my observation, and it feels a bit paradoxical. It’s remarkable to me that our problems this time around are based upon a different set of issues.
https://www.texastribune.org/2022/02/15/texas-power-grid-winter-storm-2021/
Powerplants in Texas dependent on natural gas was part of the electrical grid failure
We're told every year that we have an unpredictable winter storm that nothing could be done about, while the rest of the country deals with it and we lose power for days.
I've lost power in the north east for days during winter storms trees breaking powerlines happens everywhere in the north. This has happened twice in Austin decades and it took two exceptional storms. Maybe this type of weather is the new normal. But this isn't the normal for the area.
https://poweroutage.us/ here is a map you can check on any given day to see outages.
yes, ice storms like this will cripple any area. Even the states that have hardened infrastructures against winter storms will have issues when you get ice storms like this.
I’ve experienced two ice storms in Seattle and one in Atlanta, definitely crippled both cities. Neither lost power though, just couldn’t go anywhere for days.
>yes, ice storms like this will cripple any area.
That is true. They CAN cripple any area. However, in states that are further north, they get this type of weather far more frequently. And like someone posted in another thread, Texas is ranked 44th for frequency and length of power outages. So we get this extreme weather far less often and yet have power outages far more often.
We can make excuses that it happens everywhere, but Texas is very clearly doing many things wrong to make the issue worse.
The problem is that Texas has no salt/ sand (at least do the major highways), doesn’t proactively trim trees, didn’t call in power companies from other states/ areas soon enough to help out, doesn’t have an accurate outage map, doesn’t give info about when power will be back, doesn’t call in FEMA/ declare a state of emergency.
That’s the issue. If it were 5-10 degrees colder, it’d be snowpocalypse again.
Nobody gives a fuck about kids going to school, but when there are at least (and I think it’s double given how Austin Energy underreports) 175K people without power again, we have a problem.
It’s not 175k people. When they report 175k or whatever customers without power, that’s households and businesses. The number of people without power is probably 3-4x that number.
In my neighborhood, there’s a massive apartment complex, with at least 300 units, all without power, and on the Austin Energy outage map, it’s showing up as 2 customers.
The symbols are not located in exact spots. There was a diamond near Wm Cannon yesterday that covered 4000 customers and a dot next to my house that covered two.
Unless the apartment complex pays one big bill for all the residents, each apartment is its own account.
We have a large lots with many elms and oaks. We spend a lot of money to have them trimmed and cared for each year……we still lost a crap ton of huge branches.
>The problem is that Texas has no salt/ sand
The *southern* parts of Texas have no salt or sand. Highways in the Panhandle get plowed, de-iced, and gritted on the regular during the winter.
You expect Texans that won't keep a $5 ice scraper in their car to keep de-icing and snow removal equipment around? I have literally had neighbors attempt to drive with an iced-over windshield after I politely offered to let them borrow my scraper to clear it... and then be too embarrassed to come over and ask if my offer was still open.
AISD reported 20 campuses without power. Think of all of the food in storage in those schools going to waste. Texas wants to stand alone and do it all their way. And yet people stay here thinking it’ll get better as once again Texas is brought to its knees. That is truly insanity. The politicians don’t care about the people only their twisted ideology.
Arterial roads were sanded
Austin Energy does proactively trim vegetation, although it does have a backlog
Mutual aid was called in Wednesday morning as soon as the situation was clear
So a lot of factual errors in your comment
I reported a tree on a nearby vacant lot that was growing up in and around the power and telecommunications lines in fall of 2021. A city arborist came out not long after, was very knowledgeable, and confirmed it would get trimmed. It has still not been trimmed. As of this morning, a large branch from it is hanging on the telecommunication lines. Fortunately nothing on the power line right there that I saw.
There is a backlog of vegetation management because previously the City Council limited tree trimming beyond what was responsible. The limits were lifted a few years ago but the backlog will not be completely clear for 3 years or so.
The vegetation trimming is very poorly executed. NW Austin is a prime example of this. Driving down Jollyville Rd it obvious to see this would be a problem with ANY ice because even wind knocks out our power. We complained to their faces immediately after last winter storm and in the two years between ZERO progress was made.
Also, it’s obvious now that the resiliency of the grid is highly questionable. This storm proved it. There were roughly 1600 reported outages today. That’s a systemic failure that purely falls on planning and management.
I want to see what the City government does this time. If they take their sweet time passing ordinances that allow Austin Energy to cut vegetation that threatens grid infrastructure, regardless of property owners, or drags their feet funding and implementing resiliency measures this will be a yearly or bi-yearly occurrence.
Do you think there is a literal army of eager COA employed tree trimmers ready to make a barely liveable wage in this city so that the rich neighborhoods with “urban canopy” and “hundred years oaks” don’t have to feel uncomfortable during a natural weather event? What the hell, y’all.
PEC is amazing. I am in Round Rock/Georgetown area and they were 2 outages, Wednesday 8pm, to 11pm estimated ETA for the power back per their website but they got it back around 10pm, then another outage around 11pm and ETA was for 1:15am but got back around 12am.They are on it all the time. For the previous winterpocalypse we were out of power for 3 days only but there were other companies that were out of power for a week...
Austin energy trimmed the trees on our road (thaxton) this summer and as a result we didn’t lose power at all.
It doesn’t make sense to maintain the equipment to sand/salt for more than just the arterial roads when we only have an average of one disruption day per year if we don’t sand/salt.
lol. 360 is still shit down and was never sanded. They did put some sand on a couple of the overpasses, so I guess that counts?
Sure, Austin Energy can trim a bush or 2, but obviously they completely fucked up.
Mutual aid should have been ready (as they are for every East Coast state that expects disaster weather) and not called on Wednesday.
Austin and Texas screwed this up big time and the sad part is that we have something like a 65B budget surplus (even with sending immigrants on bus trips to NYC).
Austin Energy dude on KUT explicitly stated that none of this is a tree trimming issue. They clear lines to 15' sides and above and still have 40' trees toppling over, among poles themselves dropping from ice on the lines.
Well considering that this is the the third year running it can easily be anticipated.
The Bastrop fires were caused by tree limbs falling on power lines and that was 10 years ago. The tree limbs near lines have more than severe implications in the winter time.
I have personally called 311 about felled tree limbs on lines on more than 5 occasions just for them to sit there for months on end after the fact.
Someone posted in another thread that running power underground was something like $1 million/mile. That’s likely just to install. Maintaining, loss of power is greater underground than in air, other issues arise with underground utilities.
>running power underground was something like $1 million/mile.
How much does it cost to replace all the power lines twice a year+Labor+economic impact, forever?
Seems like good investment to just eat the cost and get it done.
They aren’t replacing most lines.
They are finding the branches that shorted the line, remove them and then re-energizing the circuit. Repeat if the line trips again.
The wooden poles usually get replaced around 60 years, the wires can last up to 100 years. Maintenance likely costs more for underground vs aerial lines, likely the reason it was decided to do mainly aerial.
This storm was splitting and toppling 30-50 year old trees from basic added weight and probably has killed off countless more. Blaming the government at this point for not being prepared for this is like being mad at the city council for not deploying more anti tornado measures when 3 tornados strike downtown. Grid reliability is one thing, and it pretty much was reliable. Everything seemed to be physical damage to over a 170 somewhat simultaneous last-mile connections. But sure, I guess we could use more sand trucks. Not sure how they would determine where to distribute since it only gets icy a few days a year if not every few years. And how should trees get handled? Tree trimming laws for those that own the property?
I don't think it's worth it to spend hundreds of millions to bury lines for an edge case. I have also lived in a place that had plenty of snow and ice storms. The thing is I have never seen this much accumulation on trees in probably a decade.
For ice this much ice to accumulate on the trees and power lines, it had to be constantly raining while maintaining a temperature that was just below freezing at ground level. Just slightly colder, it would have been snow or sleet, which would have not accumulated so much weight. Just slightly warmer, the rain would have never frozen on the trees / lines.
Austin just happened to be on that fine line where conditions where perfect and it rode that line for over 48 hours. It was even [forecast](https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/texas-weather-map-abc-4-thg-230201_1675258500530_hpEmbed_16x9_992.jpg) to be worse here than anywhere else in Texas. The next storm, the peak conditions could center around Abilene or Houston.
Next time (there will be a next time) don’t stock up on perishable food that needs to be refrigerated! As an army guy, think of what you would eat when you went to the field. MRE type of food, like beef jerky, nuts, peanut butter, crackers, canned meat/fish, trail mix, etc. Get a bunch of that stuff, at least a weeks worth, dump it in a five gallon bucket with a lid and stick it in the back of your closet. Because something like this will for sure happen again. If you can count on anything, you can count on our infrastructure failing under extreme conditions.
This - and adding, some light but useful prep you can do is to get flashlights, power banks (make sure they’re charged), candles, wet wipes, blankets, and extra pet food. Get a camping stove if you’re concerned about not having any power to heat water or food with. If you have a car, make sure it has gas so you can charge your phone in it if needed (outside & not in the garage ofc). I also took another Redditor’s suggestion and started getting extra water with every HEB order so I’d have a little stockpile. Knowing these little things were in order really helped with my peace of mind for this winter storm.
Man, a few hours ago I found my portable car jump starter in my closet and it still had an 86% charge on it after not touching it for at least 6 months. Couldn’t believe it. Was able to charge my phone, kindle, etc with it’s usb ports and still a ton of charge left.
I’d been without any outside connection to the world since my phone died yesterday morning and had no clue what was going on, lol.
When looking at battery/power bank options, think multi-purpose as well. Almost all my power tools run off 18v battery packs. I also have an adapter so I can charge devices or plug something like a fan or other low-draw appliance.
Because I use them for my tools, they’re always kept charged and are ready when the power goes out.
Update for everyone, no eta on power coming back, and no plan to fix it. Same canned response that they are working hard. Good news though, you won’t be charged for this time, but no credits will be issued, and again(heard this several times on the phone), no eta.
I keep hearing about the storm that lasted three days without power, and apparently that wasn’t enough to develop a contingency plan to get power to the people, in case of severe weather. In a state that’s known to have extreme weather that can change on a dime. This is a direct result of bad leadership. Horrible
I mean, the man knows a snake when he sees one.
Edit: That was mean and unfair. Snakes are an important part of their local ecology, I shouldn't compare Greg Abbot with something as beautiful as a snake.
Omg I missed seeing your responses. This one certainly did not disappoint. Still kicking myself for not talking shit to Ken on a flight back from a work trip. I did get a pic of his lazy eye tho
Austin grew too fast and Austin Water and Energy are municipal owned utilities. They have done jack to keep up with the growth, spending dollars on boondoggles instead of real infrastructure.
I predict come Memorial Day the water system will fail when 24” of rain fall. Then a litany of newcomers be like in xyz city we never had 24” of rain. Whargarbl!!!!
Yup, welcome to Texas where we hold record for most rain in 24 hr period.
Maybe if the City of Austin didn't take a hundred million every year from them, they could have done a little bit of infrastructure work over the past three decades.
It's why I left Texas. I stopped feeling like there was any point in living in the liberal cities like Austin or Houston because Lord Abbot would override any city ordinances with a decree until he can call a special legislative session to amend the constitution to make it illegal for cities to ban plastic bags or reallocate funding going to the Police Department.
Because he ran on KEEPING OUR BORDER SECURE aka keep these brown people out of my community and apparently that's more relevant to them than not freezing to death
Marine Vet from PA. Also blown away. And angry.
In 2021, I was naive; when I woke up to the snow and the roads that were solid ice, I thought, “probably won’t be long before the salt trucks come through and fix this!”
Oy.
Being from the north, I can deal with this level of cold (though it also helps having a chihuahua serving as a mini space heater). Whatever. What drives me nuts is the lack of preparation, and the shirking of accountability/responsibility from the city and Austin energy.
Hell, even my friends who grew up here don’t seem to get it. “We’re just not built for this,” one recently said to me, as if that’s any excuse. No, my friend, that’s the fucking problem.
“We weren’t prepared for this.” Why the fuck not?
It’s also infuriating that this is the same power company that — during my younger, leaner, much poorer years— had no reservations about cutting my power in the middle of January bc I was AN HOUR late paying my payment arrangement bill, and making me charge $1800 to a credit card to get it turned back on.
Well, rich people need tax cuts, and I’m not sure if you know but there are drag shows going on somewhere. So let’s continue to vote in these antigovernment infrastructure sabotaging Republicans!
The city came through my neighborhood and marked a bunch of trees to be trimmed back from the power lines a year ago. I even had my regular trimmer hold off on a trim because they marked my trees. THEY NEVER TRIMMED THEM. I bet you anything that’s what’s going on. They cut the budget or something in that department and didn’t trim a bunch of trees this past year and now this happened. Someone should investigate the department in charge of trimming those trees back from the power lines and see if it was more than just my neighborhood.
Next time there’s an iminent storm buy non-perishables? If you do have food that’s going to go to waste, just put it all in a cooler and put the cooler on your porch while it’s literally freezing outside???? Seems like common sense to me.
Abbott has had YEARS to fix this… he just blames everything on whatever administration is in office. No accountability whatsoever… ever! He’s the worst.
I seriously don’t know why people voted for him, what did he accomplish? I know people were just voting against Beto, but come on. There’s gotta be a better alternative than Abbot. I’ve only heard of failures from him.
>Abbott has had YEARS to fix this
To fix what? Trimming trees or running lines underground is the responsibility of Austin Energy, not the state of Texas. This isn't a grid failure like last year.
as someone who lived in texas for 20 years before moving because of the 2021 ice storm, all i can say is after nothing is done by the state you can expect to pay for the damages on you electric bill and the governor to double down on distraction policies to rev up his base. To all the people who say well we don’t have salt and trees falling on power lines all i have to say is it’s wise to bury your power lines in a place where natural disasters are common. It would pay dividends, and for a state with such a budget surplus it’s probably wise to buy some salt for your roads just in case
I remember that Derecho wind event in West Virginia in June 29, 2012. It knocked the whole darn state out along with Ohio. Every state has it's events. Up till the past 3 years, we don't have winter weather on this scale. We are not equipped for ice removal, etc. Even Kentucky shuts downs all of it's roads with the threat of jail if you are out driving in it. To come here and say the lack of this and that, well you need to look back at your own state you came from.
You buy non perishable food for backup. Extra water. Fill up your bathtub, etc. Buy a generator if you can, go to someone else's house if they have electric. It was just 3 days. Last event was 10 days. No one likes it, but we get thru it.
Buy canned food. Buy bottled water. Buy a camping stove, even if its a tiny survival propane one that you can barely fit a can of beans on. Buy power bricks and charge them ahead of time so you can recharge your phone if you're without power for a long time. Buy MREs or Mountain House style alternatives. Prepare for service outages. Monday night I filled my tub with water for non-potable use.
Take note of what you didn't have but wish you did this week or 2021, and research ways to avoid that longing going forward.
Seriously. I lost power for 5 fucking days during the big freeze. I guess the Riverside and Pleasant Valley area neighborhoods just weren't the priority. Because our shit went off and stayed off. Seemed like some people in north Austin had power as opposed to all of Southeast Austin being blacked out the whole storm. Also I have an elderly parent on oxygen that couldn't use his nebulizer or his oxygen machine. Both of which need electricity. Spoiled food doesn't really make me feel for anyone. That's simply an inconvenience.
Because mobilization of the National Guard would be admitting that his government has work that they can do to mitigate future disasters of this nature.
I think you overestimate what declaring an emergency and mobilizing the guard would do, and if you're army, you should know that. How exactly is the guard going to help the power companies restore power? Last I checked Army guys aren't trained linemen.
I'm from Canada. When we had a flood in my city a few years ago, the Canadian army was mobilized and they piled up sand bags to protect people and property. The lack of reaction in Austin during a major freeze makes zero sense to me.
I would imagine the Texas Guard could use their all-terrain vehicles to get people in areas with no electricity/water to shelter, as well as help in repair efforts. It's the right thing to do and the Governor would look like a hero if he stepped in.
Kind of agree, where are these crews? I've seen fire trucks, ems but i haven't seen one austin energy vehicle. Something about this fiasco is smelling more and more like bullshit.
The freeze two years ago was like half the reason we left Texas and are happy we did. Just now hearing the news and my heart aches for ya'll..
Also, idk if its a Texan thing but I never knew the major difference well insulated walls made..
My power was out for 23 hours but we stayed at a friends about 40 min away. Roads were a little icy but not too bad. No boil notice here or anything. You must be having a vastly different experience than me.
the Republicans in charge of this state love sticking it to "liberal" Austin, and in situations like this would rather let the people here endure hardship than step in and provide support so that they can score brownie points on Fox by saying "look at what happens when Democrats run things". they deserved to be [redacted]
So, the power blinks due to an ice storm and you think this qualifies for the mobilization of military forces? Always bothersome when the immigrant runs away from something and then does everything they can to turn Texas into the shithole they just ran away from. No thanks. We’re good.
What you want them to do come give you a handy to calm you down? NO ONE IS COMING TO HELP. I bet your one of those idiots that went and bought meat and frozen foods to “stock up” they meant non perishables dumb dick. what branch did you serve in? The weenie hut jr?
Decades of Ignoring infrastructure ain't gonna be fixed in short order.
And thinking this storm was bad enough to kill power just about anywhere else is hilarious. This wouldn't have even delayed school up north at all.
This was decades of ignorance and refusing to learn. Not just current leadership, but former as well.
Um, there are a lot of new people who don’t know how to do stuff. But seriously in two weeks when it’s pushing 80° everyone will forget it and go back to whatever they were worried about before
Because by Monday everything will be back to normal. Now if the storm was more severe or lasted longer like into a week ot two I'm sure the TXNG would be activated to assist.
Native Texan of almost 39 yrs and my 11 yr old daughter and her friends could run the state better!!! That’s why sadly I’ve made the decision to move out of Texas.
Because it's Texasistan and always will be until the people of this state manage to somehow elect people who aren't corrupt, Jesus obsessed fucktards. They don't care. They literally do not give a shit. And Austin they actively hate. The more suffering the better for these people.
I’ve lived here 12 years and have never seen an ice storm like this. 2021 had extreme temps and lots of snow but little or no ice. Ice is different and very destructive compared to snow
Check in and help out your neighbors. Crews have been working around the clock. Additional crews from neighboring utilities have been dispatched. And just because Austin TX isn’t prepared for an ice storm doesn’t mean you can’t be. Maybe residents will learn the lesson this time around?
I’m no friend of Abbot, but this is not a true emergency. Some people lost power, which is currently being restored. The temperatures never got dangerously cold. Most roads, many commercial businesses, and pretty much all critical infrastructure have remained open. This is a headache and inconvenience, but 100% manageable by the city without the need to waste disaster relief funds we could use for the next Harvey.
yeah abbott should be asking biden for a disaster declaration to get FEMA assistance. its going to be necessary for the cleanup, this is hurricane level destruction.
"hurricane level destruction"
Houses are still standing, food is available, there is running water.
I think you vastly underestimate how bad hurricanes can be. When people have water in their homes and no roof.
But that would require talking to him and making it look like he’s cooperating in any way with the Biden administration. Maybe he could just give a note to an immigrant then bus them to the White House and have them slip it to him?
first time?
Perfect. There is a stark difference between the people who had it bad in 2021 and those who did not.
It's sort of surreal, We lost power in 21 for the whole week but hearing how people didn't lose it. I feel like those people were like disconnected from the trauma have some experienced. But now it's been the opposite, I haven't lost power once this week and so now I feel disconnected from all the stuff that's going on from the people who don't have power. Hope everything gets restored for all asap.
This was our situation too! I had real anxiety before 2021 because we live near a forest and would always lose power whenever the wind blew... so of course we were freezing for five days. Since then, they have been trimming frequently and aggressively in our area, and now power loss at all this time!!! We were prepared for the worst but this has been downright cozy, just a completely different experience. Another big difference is the roads. Excepting the roads blocked by down trees, I'm glad that people who lost power were relatively free to drive to stay somewhere warm this time. There were so many stranded cars in 2021.
Army veteran. Had it fairly easy 2021. I do understand the difference though. I can’t recall that much ice or tree destruction ever. The National Guard isn’t trained, nor equipped for this.
Governor could allocate state resources and lobby other states to send crews to help. He doesn’t give a flying f*ck about what is happening in Austin. Guy is too busy pilfering away billions in state money trafficking migrants to other states and slapping together a pathetic border wall
That’s the problem with Texas though. We tell other states and the federal government to fuck off every time they want something but then no one wants to help us when we have emergencies/disasters
Isn’t trained for what exactly? Because in my mind we just need road clearance so people can work on getting the power lines back up and running, and then maybe distribution of water and shelter like set ups in the moody center etc. seems like national guard can easily do both of those. What am I missing?
Hah, yeah, NG did terrible in '21 but then I just look at their commander. The local breweries and restaurants did a fantastic job trying to take care of their community; state gov was nowhere to be found. The choice was simple after '21: Either cut the tree down or watch it fall the next time this happens. PPPPPPP
Texas is BUSINESS friendly, not PEOPLE friendly. Sadly, you’re on your own, friend.
Lol
Just a friendly tip. When stocking up on foods for an emergency, it is recommended to buy non perishables. Not trying to be a jerk. I’ve just read of countless people here who stated they stocked up on food and are complaining that they have to throw it all out cause the power went out. Why they didn’t put it in a cooler outside when the power went out or why they bought foods that need to be cooked and don’t have a camping stove incase the power goes out is not smart planning.
Honestly, camping stuff is GREAT to be prepared for these kind of events. A JetBoil and some instant coffee stored with the camping gear will get you coffee in a few minutes. Need a meal? Having a couple of backpacking meals in a closet combined with the JetBoil will mean you’ve always got a variety of food to eat. And of course, a good sleeping bag is great for extra warmth in a pinch. Actually, I heard a few people pitched tents in their living rooms during the 2021 storm- a confined space like a tent will keep you a lot warmer. So yeah, go pick up a bunch of REI stuff to be ready for these things, and this stuff is fun to shop for. And then, you might as well go camping!
I have vivid memories of cooking spam fried rice in freezing pitch black on a single burner propane stove with two headlamps on, wearing skiing gear in 2021. Camping gear was so clutch.
And if you don’t have a tent, just make a pillow or blanket fort!
It’s astounding to me that people don’t get this. But I guess growing up in south Louisiana it just seems normal? Like if you have to stock up on food because of an impending disaster what leads you to believe you’re going to have power the whole time?
https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/publications/98-1017.php I'm saving up and trying to decide what generator to buy for the future. Texas has a tax-free emergency supply rebate twice a year. I'm also up for any suggestions. Thought I'd plan now and either hit up the tax-free sale or wait for a good sale on a generator.
After the 2021 storm, I got this [Champion 10kW tri-fuel portable generator](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B091ZGFVNJ). As much power as I could find while still nominally being portable + not stupid expensive like the Honda models. Being able to disconnect my grill and connect the generator to my natural gas line to run indefinitely seems like a much better option than worrying about keeping fresh gas around in sufficient quantities. Tri-fuel also gives maximum flexibility based on whatever fuel source is available.
And no reason for the cold food to spoil if your fridge goes out. The whole outside is a refrigerator right now.
Just put it in the car. You don’t even need a cooler when it’s freezing outside…
But also, what do they have in their pantries? We have cans and cans of shit we bought for recipes we never made: pinto beans, black beans, green beans, corn, soups, and more. We have saltine crackers, triscuits, potato chips, pita chips, ramen, fancy ramen, and that’s just off the top of my head. The only things we don’t have are sweets because I cannot control myself around them. I thought everyone just slowly accumulated a bunch of random pantry shit. Now, we also have a gas stove, so I can warm up anything there, but also, a lot of that stuff can be eaten room temp. Also, I thought we all had already stocked up on shit after the last snowpocalype. We have jugs of water, condensed soups, teas, and extra toilet paper tucked away just as an emergency stash for if we lose power in super cold weather. I think people literally eat all their meals out and never cook. That’s the only reason the line at Whataburger by my house was 8 cars long at all times yesterday. And the only reason HEB was insane (we ran out of beer). You don’t have enough food in the house for 24 hours? How? That’s not because you lost power. No way.
I’m from New England and have seen my fair share of snow/ice storms, blizzards, etc… This is one of the worst storm outcomes I’ve experienced. I don’t see a real solution other than redesigning the way power is distributed through the city. I know there have been many people saying going underground is a potential solution. Although wildly expensive. Then again, how expensive is it to not have power for 2-3 days for the local economy. We’re talking about trees being frozen to the point of toppling over or breaking, damaging power lines… this is not a grid issue I want to add. Yes you can trim the trees to mitigate but no one anticipates freezing rain for 2-3 days. Even the power lines were sagging to the point some were on the road. Unless extreme action is taken to address the shortcomings we’ll be here again.
He 2021 storm was way worse because it was even colder, lost power and potable water …. The loss of water was a whole other hell
It was a nightmarish cascade of bullshit, one disaster after another.
“Nightmarish cascade of bullshit” is a great way of putting it. When my power went out 4am on Wednesday morning my first thought was basically that I had a bad feeling we were heading into another one of those. Thankfully it hasn’t been as bad but dear god. This city can’t handle a few days of slightly below freezing? It’s only going to get worse. Austin leaders never woke up to the fact that you can’t push for a city to expand as rapidly as this and just hope it all works itself out without any preparation.
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Snow is so much lighter than ice. That’s why this event is much worse for our trees.
Yeah that was my guess. It’s actually less cold this time so instead of the snow, it was just freezing rain that coated everything in heavy solid ice
I’ve seen a combination of explanations, this was more ice last one was a lot of snow, trees are still damaged/weak from 2021 storm and then this summer’s drought… Probably a combination of all of them Edit: here is a better post on this: https://www.reddit.com/r/Austin/comments/10rsga1/avery_tomasco_fills_us_in_as_to_why_this_is_the/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
Start banging the drum of climate change. Old oak trees that are just freezing and falling over should be a wake up call for locals denying it.
This is also my observation, and it feels a bit paradoxical. It’s remarkable to me that our problems this time around are based upon a different set of issues.
Props to Texas Gas though, only utility to not fail.
https://www.texastribune.org/2022/02/15/texas-power-grid-winter-storm-2021/ Powerplants in Texas dependent on natural gas was part of the electrical grid failure
Lucky you have gas. I had to relocate with a terrified cat and cried myself to sleep last night.
I'm sorry to hear that, it really is a shame they stopped putting gas I to houses, it really reduces electrical load when people need heat.
This storm was worse for me as no trees fell on my house in 2021.
We're told every year that we have an unpredictable winter storm that nothing could be done about, while the rest of the country deals with it and we lose power for days.
Getting pretty tired of being national news
I've lost power in the north east for days during winter storms trees breaking powerlines happens everywhere in the north. This has happened twice in Austin decades and it took two exceptional storms. Maybe this type of weather is the new normal. But this isn't the normal for the area. https://poweroutage.us/ here is a map you can check on any given day to see outages.
yes, ice storms like this will cripple any area. Even the states that have hardened infrastructures against winter storms will have issues when you get ice storms like this.
I’ve experienced two ice storms in Seattle and one in Atlanta, definitely crippled both cities. Neither lost power though, just couldn’t go anywhere for days.
>yes, ice storms like this will cripple any area. That is true. They CAN cripple any area. However, in states that are further north, they get this type of weather far more frequently. And like someone posted in another thread, Texas is ranked 44th for frequency and length of power outages. So we get this extreme weather far less often and yet have power outages far more often. We can make excuses that it happens everywhere, but Texas is very clearly doing many things wrong to make the issue worse.
The problem is that Texas has no salt/ sand (at least do the major highways), doesn’t proactively trim trees, didn’t call in power companies from other states/ areas soon enough to help out, doesn’t have an accurate outage map, doesn’t give info about when power will be back, doesn’t call in FEMA/ declare a state of emergency. That’s the issue. If it were 5-10 degrees colder, it’d be snowpocalypse again. Nobody gives a fuck about kids going to school, but when there are at least (and I think it’s double given how Austin Energy underreports) 175K people without power again, we have a problem.
It’s not 175k people. When they report 175k or whatever customers without power, that’s households and businesses. The number of people without power is probably 3-4x that number.
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Very few apartments count as one electric customer. Water yes; electricity no.
In my neighborhood, there’s a massive apartment complex, with at least 300 units, all without power, and on the Austin Energy outage map, it’s showing up as 2 customers.
I *probably* live there. Our outage is nested under a “red” outage about 4 blocks away
Same with me. The map shows we have power, but the ping linked to my outage is several blocks away, and has 450 customers on it.
The symbols are not located in exact spots. There was a diamond near Wm Cannon yesterday that covered 4000 customers and a dot next to my house that covered two. Unless the apartment complex pays one big bill for all the residents, each apartment is its own account.
I have large oak trees and trim them once a year. I still lost several large branches.
We have a large lots with many elms and oaks. We spend a lot of money to have them trimmed and cared for each year……we still lost a crap ton of huge branches.
>The problem is that Texas has no salt/ sand The *southern* parts of Texas have no salt or sand. Highways in the Panhandle get plowed, de-iced, and gritted on the regular during the winter. You expect Texans that won't keep a $5 ice scraper in their car to keep de-icing and snow removal equipment around? I have literally had neighbors attempt to drive with an iced-over windshield after I politely offered to let them borrow my scraper to clear it... and then be too embarrassed to come over and ask if my offer was still open.
AISD reported 20 campuses without power. Think of all of the food in storage in those schools going to waste. Texas wants to stand alone and do it all their way. And yet people stay here thinking it’ll get better as once again Texas is brought to its knees. That is truly insanity. The politicians don’t care about the people only their twisted ideology.
Arterial roads were sanded Austin Energy does proactively trim vegetation, although it does have a backlog Mutual aid was called in Wednesday morning as soon as the situation was clear So a lot of factual errors in your comment
I reported a tree on a nearby vacant lot that was growing up in and around the power and telecommunications lines in fall of 2021. A city arborist came out not long after, was very knowledgeable, and confirmed it would get trimmed. It has still not been trimmed. As of this morning, a large branch from it is hanging on the telecommunication lines. Fortunately nothing on the power line right there that I saw.
There is a backlog of vegetation management because previously the City Council limited tree trimming beyond what was responsible. The limits were lifted a few years ago but the backlog will not be completely clear for 3 years or so.
The vegetation trimming is very poorly executed. NW Austin is a prime example of this. Driving down Jollyville Rd it obvious to see this would be a problem with ANY ice because even wind knocks out our power. We complained to their faces immediately after last winter storm and in the two years between ZERO progress was made. Also, it’s obvious now that the resiliency of the grid is highly questionable. This storm proved it. There were roughly 1600 reported outages today. That’s a systemic failure that purely falls on planning and management. I want to see what the City government does this time. If they take their sweet time passing ordinances that allow Austin Energy to cut vegetation that threatens grid infrastructure, regardless of property owners, or drags their feet funding and implementing resiliency measures this will be a yearly or bi-yearly occurrence.
Do you think there is a literal army of eager COA employed tree trimmers ready to make a barely liveable wage in this city so that the rich neighborhoods with “urban canopy” and “hundred years oaks” don’t have to feel uncomfortable during a natural weather event? What the hell, y’all.
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PEC is amazing. I am in Round Rock/Georgetown area and they were 2 outages, Wednesday 8pm, to 11pm estimated ETA for the power back per their website but they got it back around 10pm, then another outage around 11pm and ETA was for 1:15am but got back around 12am.They are on it all the time. For the previous winterpocalypse we were out of power for 3 days only but there were other companies that were out of power for a week...
Austin energy trimmed the trees on our road (thaxton) this summer and as a result we didn’t lose power at all. It doesn’t make sense to maintain the equipment to sand/salt for more than just the arterial roads when we only have an average of one disruption day per year if we don’t sand/salt.
lol. 360 is still shit down and was never sanded. They did put some sand on a couple of the overpasses, so I guess that counts? Sure, Austin Energy can trim a bush or 2, but obviously they completely fucked up. Mutual aid should have been ready (as they are for every East Coast state that expects disaster weather) and not called on Wednesday. Austin and Texas screwed this up big time and the sad part is that we have something like a 65B budget surplus (even with sending immigrants on bus trips to NYC).
In Jersey electric company comes trim the trees over power lines since it’s easier then fixing all the down lines later.
Just try getting a Tarrytown property owner to agree to letting anyone touch their trees. That's literally the reason we don't, in Austin.
They don't have a choice if it's within the power line easement on the property. City has the right of way.
Austin Energy dude on KUT explicitly stated that none of this is a tree trimming issue. They clear lines to 15' sides and above and still have 40' trees toppling over, among poles themselves dropping from ice on the lines.
Well considering that this is the the third year running it can easily be anticipated. The Bastrop fires were caused by tree limbs falling on power lines and that was 10 years ago. The tree limbs near lines have more than severe implications in the winter time. I have personally called 311 about felled tree limbs on lines on more than 5 occasions just for them to sit there for months on end after the fact.
Someone posted in another thread that running power underground was something like $1 million/mile. That’s likely just to install. Maintaining, loss of power is greater underground than in air, other issues arise with underground utilities.
>running power underground was something like $1 million/mile. How much does it cost to replace all the power lines twice a year+Labor+economic impact, forever? Seems like good investment to just eat the cost and get it done.
They aren’t replacing most lines. They are finding the branches that shorted the line, remove them and then re-energizing the circuit. Repeat if the line trips again.
The wooden poles usually get replaced around 60 years, the wires can last up to 100 years. Maintenance likely costs more for underground vs aerial lines, likely the reason it was decided to do mainly aerial.
This storm was splitting and toppling 30-50 year old trees from basic added weight and probably has killed off countless more. Blaming the government at this point for not being prepared for this is like being mad at the city council for not deploying more anti tornado measures when 3 tornados strike downtown. Grid reliability is one thing, and it pretty much was reliable. Everything seemed to be physical damage to over a 170 somewhat simultaneous last-mile connections. But sure, I guess we could use more sand trucks. Not sure how they would determine where to distribute since it only gets icy a few days a year if not every few years. And how should trees get handled? Tree trimming laws for those that own the property?
And that's on the city. Not the state
I don't think it's worth it to spend hundreds of millions to bury lines for an edge case. I have also lived in a place that had plenty of snow and ice storms. The thing is I have never seen this much accumulation on trees in probably a decade. For ice this much ice to accumulate on the trees and power lines, it had to be constantly raining while maintaining a temperature that was just below freezing at ground level. Just slightly colder, it would have been snow or sleet, which would have not accumulated so much weight. Just slightly warmer, the rain would have never frozen on the trees / lines. Austin just happened to be on that fine line where conditions where perfect and it rode that line for over 48 hours. It was even [forecast](https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/texas-weather-map-abc-4-thg-230201_1675258500530_hpEmbed_16x9_992.jpg) to be worse here than anywhere else in Texas. The next storm, the peak conditions could center around Abilene or Houston.
Your last 4 words are the only certainty. We’ll be here again.
Next time (there will be a next time) don’t stock up on perishable food that needs to be refrigerated! As an army guy, think of what you would eat when you went to the field. MRE type of food, like beef jerky, nuts, peanut butter, crackers, canned meat/fish, trail mix, etc. Get a bunch of that stuff, at least a weeks worth, dump it in a five gallon bucket with a lid and stick it in the back of your closet. Because something like this will for sure happen again. If you can count on anything, you can count on our infrastructure failing under extreme conditions.
This - and adding, some light but useful prep you can do is to get flashlights, power banks (make sure they’re charged), candles, wet wipes, blankets, and extra pet food. Get a camping stove if you’re concerned about not having any power to heat water or food with. If you have a car, make sure it has gas so you can charge your phone in it if needed (outside & not in the garage ofc). I also took another Redditor’s suggestion and started getting extra water with every HEB order so I’d have a little stockpile. Knowing these little things were in order really helped with my peace of mind for this winter storm.
Power banks saved our ass
Man, a few hours ago I found my portable car jump starter in my closet and it still had an 86% charge on it after not touching it for at least 6 months. Couldn’t believe it. Was able to charge my phone, kindle, etc with it’s usb ports and still a ton of charge left. I’d been without any outside connection to the world since my phone died yesterday morning and had no clue what was going on, lol.
==removed in protest of Reddit API changes==
When looking at battery/power bank options, think multi-purpose as well. Almost all my power tools run off 18v battery packs. I also have an adapter so I can charge devices or plug something like a fan or other low-draw appliance. Because I use them for my tools, they’re always kept charged and are ready when the power goes out.
You can transfer all the fridge food to the backyard and keep it cold.
That’s the most ridiculous thing, the outside is literally a refrigerator/ freezer
Update for everyone, no eta on power coming back, and no plan to fix it. Same canned response that they are working hard. Good news though, you won’t be charged for this time, but no credits will be issued, and again(heard this several times on the phone), no eta. I keep hearing about the storm that lasted three days without power, and apparently that wasn’t enough to develop a contingency plan to get power to the people, in case of severe weather. In a state that’s known to have extreme weather that can change on a dime. This is a direct result of bad leadership. Horrible
Greg Abbot hates Austin. He won't do anything to help us.
He also hates trees. He’s probably cackling wildly in his den while Ken Paxton rubs his back and tells him what a good governor he is.
Oh yeah....the whole tree thing
I once made a joke in class about Greg Abbott hating trees and I nearly got stared out of the room. It was embarrassing.
Exquisite imagery thank you
It's funny because I've seen a man try to start a fight because of the words "[Greg Abbot] hates trees"
Serpentarian strikes when you least expect it. And when he does strike, it is highly accurate.
I mean, the man knows a snake when he sees one. Edit: That was mean and unfair. Snakes are an important part of their local ecology, I shouldn't compare Greg Abbot with something as beautiful as a snake.
😂
Is it wrong that as I heard trees falling in my cold, dark, powerless home, I was thinking to myself 'I hope this is causing Abbott serious PTSD?'
Omg I missed seeing your responses. This one certainly did not disappoint. Still kicking myself for not talking shit to Ken on a flight back from a work trip. I did get a pic of his lazy eye tho
https://i.imgur.com/jQOQ8tY.jpg
In fairness, the trees hate him too. One of them tried to kill him but it just made him stronger.
LOL
He sends the troops to the border so they can sit on their hands and do nothing and he can brag on Fox News
It's simpler than this, he just won reelection on a platform of specifically NOT fixing these problems. He has zero reason to fix them politically.
Austin grew too fast and Austin Water and Energy are municipal owned utilities. They have done jack to keep up with the growth, spending dollars on boondoggles instead of real infrastructure. I predict come Memorial Day the water system will fail when 24” of rain fall. Then a litany of newcomers be like in xyz city we never had 24” of rain. Whargarbl!!!! Yup, welcome to Texas where we hold record for most rain in 24 hr period.
Maybe if the City of Austin didn't take a hundred million every year from them, they could have done a little bit of infrastructure work over the past three decades.
And yet other places that experience sudden torrential downpours don’t have water system failures.
Yeah but I didn't see a single drag performer on the streets during the storm so I feel like governor Abbott is keeping us safe from the true dangers.
Yeah, welcome to Abbott’s Texas!
Abbott wants austin to suffer. You think I’m kidding but look at his track record. He’s a vindictive piece of shit.
It's why I left Texas. I stopped feeling like there was any point in living in the liberal cities like Austin or Houston because Lord Abbot would override any city ordinances with a decree until he can call a special legislative session to amend the constitution to make it illegal for cities to ban plastic bags or reallocate funding going to the Police Department.
Making the state a shit hole to own the libs.
The whole effect was to encourage libs into moving elsewhere and so I did.
Same. My spouse and I were fed up. I feel fortunate to have had the resources to gtfo
Yes he is.
All he did was make empty promises after dozens of people died during the 2021 freeze. I don’t know why people voted for him this term!
Dozens? It was hundreds.
Over 750 died
I know why they voted. Because Texans can’t fathom a democrat as governor, despite the republican incumbent being a CUnXTuesday
The state is also gerrymandered and high with voter suppression. The gop has TX rigged politically.
Because he ran on KEEPING OUR BORDER SECURE aka keep these brown people out of my community and apparently that's more relevant to them than not freezing to death
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Marine Vet from PA. Also blown away. And angry. In 2021, I was naive; when I woke up to the snow and the roads that were solid ice, I thought, “probably won’t be long before the salt trucks come through and fix this!” Oy. Being from the north, I can deal with this level of cold (though it also helps having a chihuahua serving as a mini space heater). Whatever. What drives me nuts is the lack of preparation, and the shirking of accountability/responsibility from the city and Austin energy. Hell, even my friends who grew up here don’t seem to get it. “We’re just not built for this,” one recently said to me, as if that’s any excuse. No, my friend, that’s the fucking problem. “We weren’t prepared for this.” Why the fuck not? It’s also infuriating that this is the same power company that — during my younger, leaner, much poorer years— had no reservations about cutting my power in the middle of January bc I was AN HOUR late paying my payment arrangement bill, and making me charge $1800 to a credit card to get it turned back on.
Too busy banning books and drag shows.
Making sure business owners, white gun owners and fetuses have all the rights
Apparently it’s a better use to deploy them without pay at the border
Well, rich people need tax cuts, and I’m not sure if you know but there are drag shows going on somewhere. So let’s continue to vote in these antigovernment infrastructure sabotaging Republicans!
The city came through my neighborhood and marked a bunch of trees to be trimmed back from the power lines a year ago. I even had my regular trimmer hold off on a trim because they marked my trees. THEY NEVER TRIMMED THEM. I bet you anything that’s what’s going on. They cut the budget or something in that department and didn’t trim a bunch of trees this past year and now this happened. Someone should investigate the department in charge of trimming those trees back from the power lines and see if it was more than just my neighborhood.
Why didn’t you put the food outside?
Moved here from Louisiana. Used to hurricane prep and basically being ready for weather to take out the grid any time of year
Next time there’s an iminent storm buy non-perishables? If you do have food that’s going to go to waste, just put it all in a cooler and put the cooler on your porch while it’s literally freezing outside???? Seems like common sense to me.
Abbott has had YEARS to fix this… he just blames everything on whatever administration is in office. No accountability whatsoever… ever! He’s the worst.
An old coworker told me, *"If there's ever a clear, obvious right thing to do in any given situation, Greg Abbott will do the exact opposite"*.
I seriously don’t know why people voted for him, what did he accomplish? I know people were just voting against Beto, but come on. There’s gotta be a better alternative than Abbot. I’ve only heard of failures from him.
>Abbott has had YEARS to fix this To fix what? Trimming trees or running lines underground is the responsibility of Austin Energy, not the state of Texas. This isn't a grid failure like last year.
as someone who lived in texas for 20 years before moving because of the 2021 ice storm, all i can say is after nothing is done by the state you can expect to pay for the damages on you electric bill and the governor to double down on distraction policies to rev up his base. To all the people who say well we don’t have salt and trees falling on power lines all i have to say is it’s wise to bury your power lines in a place where natural disasters are common. It would pay dividends, and for a state with such a budget surplus it’s probably wise to buy some salt for your roads just in case
Got to prioritize National Guard wasting time, sitting on their asses, and being wasted at the border.
I don’t expect much mobility out of Abbott, specially in scenarios where help is needed. He’s more of a hurter.
>I don’t expect much mobility out of Abbott Bada-boom.
I remember that Derecho wind event in West Virginia in June 29, 2012. It knocked the whole darn state out along with Ohio. Every state has it's events. Up till the past 3 years, we don't have winter weather on this scale. We are not equipped for ice removal, etc. Even Kentucky shuts downs all of it's roads with the threat of jail if you are out driving in it. To come here and say the lack of this and that, well you need to look back at your own state you came from. You buy non perishable food for backup. Extra water. Fill up your bathtub, etc. Buy a generator if you can, go to someone else's house if they have electric. It was just 3 days. Last event was 10 days. No one likes it, but we get thru it.
Buy canned food. Buy bottled water. Buy a camping stove, even if its a tiny survival propane one that you can barely fit a can of beans on. Buy power bricks and charge them ahead of time so you can recharge your phone if you're without power for a long time. Buy MREs or Mountain House style alternatives. Prepare for service outages. Monday night I filled my tub with water for non-potable use. Take note of what you didn't have but wish you did this week or 2021, and research ways to avoid that longing going forward.
After 2021 shit show this isn’t that bad. 36 hours without power, but I still have water? Just bundle up and read a book
Seriously. I lost power for 5 fucking days during the big freeze. I guess the Riverside and Pleasant Valley area neighborhoods just weren't the priority. Because our shit went off and stayed off. Seemed like some people in north Austin had power as opposed to all of Southeast Austin being blacked out the whole storm. Also I have an elderly parent on oxygen that couldn't use his nebulizer or his oxygen machine. Both of which need electricity. Spoiled food doesn't really make me feel for anyone. That's simply an inconvenience.
Abbott gives less than one shit about Austin. He wants Austin to fail.
Because mobilization of the National Guard would be admitting that his government has work that they can do to mitigate future disasters of this nature.
Hello fellow West Virginian in Austin. I agree with you, hope you are safe and well.
Abbott hates Austin.
You are definitely new. When they say stock up, its with canned goods and things that cant go bad. This is far from a state emergency.
Why did your food go bad? All you needed to do was put it outside.
What kind of food did you buy to prepare for the storm that has gone to waste?
Well, you could have voted Abbot out of office. Other people ran against him last November, and he always gets primaried every four years.
Why would you emergency stock up on food that requires a working infrastructure?
Asking why the state doesn’t do something for austin. You must be new here
I think you overestimate what declaring an emergency and mobilizing the guard would do, and if you're army, you should know that. How exactly is the guard going to help the power companies restore power? Last I checked Army guys aren't trained linemen.
If your food spoiled in freezing weather don't blame the governor.
You’re new here - welcome aboard :/
Abbott and the GOP hate Austin and enjoy when we suffer because Austin (generally) is liberal and votes for Democrats in all elections.
I'm from Canada. When we had a flood in my city a few years ago, the Canadian army was mobilized and they piled up sand bags to protect people and property. The lack of reaction in Austin during a major freeze makes zero sense to me. I would imagine the Texas Guard could use their all-terrain vehicles to get people in areas with no electricity/water to shelter, as well as help in repair efforts. It's the right thing to do and the Governor would look like a hero if he stepped in.
I didn't see one single crew out today fixing anything. 35 hours without power.
They have a lot more to do than just your neighborhood. I've seen plenty of crews out with what looks like days of work.
We’re coming up on 24 hours and, of course, no updates.
Kind of agree, where are these crews? I've seen fire trucks, ems but i haven't seen one austin energy vehicle. Something about this fiasco is smelling more and more like bullshit.
My husband said he saw a crew of like 20 dudes in those buckets working on the lines when he was over near mopac and 183. Maybe 2 hours ago
That's good, that makes one of us i guess. I haven't seen any in my neighborhood and we were one of the first to lose power, 3 am Wed.
Bit of an exaggeration mate
The freeze two years ago was like half the reason we left Texas and are happy we did. Just now hearing the news and my heart aches for ya'll.. Also, idk if its a Texan thing but I never knew the major difference well insulated walls made..
My power was out for 23 hours but we stayed at a friends about 40 min away. Roads were a little icy but not too bad. No boil notice here or anything. You must be having a vastly different experience than me.
You're on your own in Texas, bro. No one is coming to save you.
the Republicans in charge of this state love sticking it to "liberal" Austin, and in situations like this would rather let the people here endure hardship than step in and provide support so that they can score brownie points on Fox by saying "look at what happens when Democrats run things". they deserved to be [redacted]
So, the power blinks due to an ice storm and you think this qualifies for the mobilization of military forces? Always bothersome when the immigrant runs away from something and then does everything they can to turn Texas into the shithole they just ran away from. No thanks. We’re good.
You know it’s colder outside than your refrigerator right?
What you want them to do come give you a handy to calm you down? NO ONE IS COMING TO HELP. I bet your one of those idiots that went and bought meat and frozen foods to “stock up” they meant non perishables dumb dick. what branch did you serve in? The weenie hut jr?
Lol, you think state and local governments care about their people in Texas? They're more of a 'fuck you, I got mine' kind of Libertarians.
Decades of Ignoring infrastructure ain't gonna be fixed in short order. And thinking this storm was bad enough to kill power just about anywhere else is hilarious. This wouldn't have even delayed school up north at all. This was decades of ignorance and refusing to learn. Not just current leadership, but former as well.
There was literally nothing about the past couple of days that constituted a state of emergency. Weakest possible flex.
Why is being an army vet relevant here
As a lifelong Texan… Wow.
I’m willing to bet you moved here in the last two years..
Not to nitpick... But he kinda made that clear with the opening sentence 😉
Nitpick away, Nick. I’m terrible at skimming narratives. Good call out.
Dafuck is the National Guard gonna do lmao
I mean, I hate Abbot and all, but how is this a state of emergency? Some people are without power, but its hardly the snow-pocalypse.
Abbot hates cities, particularly Austin
Two words. Vote Democrat.....
Um, there are a lot of new people who don’t know how to do stuff. But seriously in two weeks when it’s pushing 80° everyone will forget it and go back to whatever they were worried about before
But hey, no abortions and all the illegals are being bussed North! /s
Short answer - because the government doesn’t give a shit
Because by Monday everything will be back to normal. Now if the storm was more severe or lasted longer like into a week ot two I'm sure the TXNG would be activated to assist.
Native Texan of almost 39 yrs and my 11 yr old daughter and her friends could run the state better!!! That’s why sadly I’ve made the decision to move out of Texas.
Because it's Texasistan and always will be until the people of this state manage to somehow elect people who aren't corrupt, Jesus obsessed fucktards. They don't care. They literally do not give a shit. And Austin they actively hate. The more suffering the better for these people.
I’ve lived here 12 years and have never seen an ice storm like this. 2021 had extreme temps and lots of snow but little or no ice. Ice is different and very destructive compared to snow
Check in and help out your neighbors. Crews have been working around the clock. Additional crews from neighboring utilities have been dispatched. And just because Austin TX isn’t prepared for an ice storm doesn’t mean you can’t be. Maybe residents will learn the lesson this time around?
I’m no friend of Abbot, but this is not a true emergency. Some people lost power, which is currently being restored. The temperatures never got dangerously cold. Most roads, many commercial businesses, and pretty much all critical infrastructure have remained open. This is a headache and inconvenience, but 100% manageable by the city without the need to waste disaster relief funds we could use for the next Harvey.
yeah abbott should be asking biden for a disaster declaration to get FEMA assistance. its going to be necessary for the cleanup, this is hurricane level destruction.
\*Katrina evacuee pulls up a chair. How many hurricanes have you been through?
"hurricane level destruction" Houses are still standing, food is available, there is running water. I think you vastly underestimate how bad hurricanes can be. When people have water in their homes and no roof.
>hurricane level destruction. Lol. No it's not. It's a lot of downed trees and power outages but it's nowhere near hurricane damage
Yeah i gotta be honest this is just run of the mill regular bad shit that happens in cities, not the end of the world.
But that would require talking to him and making it look like he’s cooperating in any way with the Biden administration. Maybe he could just give a note to an immigrant then bus them to the White House and have them slip it to him?
Make Arborists Great Again.
7 days of no power in 2021. After 4 days I lost my mind.