Texas is really, really bloody scary right now

[JesusInTheCabbageVan]

People were struggling with poverty even when things were going well. They've been hard hit by COVID, and now this.

Link here www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/18/texas-food-banks-crisis-storm-freezing-supplies

Terrifying.

Thanks for the food clarification, I wonder how many are creating fires from furniture and cooking that way.

As for those blaming political beliefs, Hilary was the option from Trump, what a shitshow of a choice! And BoJo or an anti Semitic Marxist?

Our political choices haven’t been rational for a very very long time so I don’t think you can say Karma to suffering people who have literally no power either functionally or metaphorically!

Everyone is jumping on the poster who said they are suffering as a result of their values. Maybe they mean Texas as a state rather than individuals?

I can't imagine anyone is unmoved by starving or freezing people.

@Porcupineintherough

They are suffering as a result of the values they uphold. I am really struggling to feel sympathy for them - which probably makes me a terrible human being but there it is.

Glad it’s not just me thinking this.

I saw a member of the public in the US on TV a while ago, just after the US election, he said something I thought was very insightful (although perhaps not 100% true). He said every other country in the world was set up to serve the interests of the collective, America was the only one were the interests of the individual were first and foremost. He was describing this as a good thing btw.

As for those blaming political beliefs, Hilary was the option from Trump, what a shitshow of a choice!

Oh yeah, a real headscratcher of a choice...

A racist incompetent or someone who'd have done a decent job.

And with regard to the pp. I agree, we get what we vote for. We can't criticise anyone from here, we've voted for food banks and poverty for children.

@RubysArms

As for those blaming political beliefs, Hilary was the option from Trump, what a shitshow of a choice!

Oh yeah, a real headscratcher of a choice...

A racist incompetent or someone who'd have done a decent job.

The most experienced person ever to run versus the least. You're right, WHAT TO DO?

Hold on though, one of them had a penis. Can't elect a woman in the USA.

They were not prepared for the kind of extreme weather we're starting to get as a result of climate change

How many Texans actually believe there is climate change?
How many Texans will actually change things now to prepare for climate change?

I was genuinely shocked to see the photos of the snow dumps, just unheard of in that part of the world. Sadly I believe that many Texan homes have AC but no heating at all (similar to many Australian homes).

And yes, as @MrsTerryPratchett says- imagine getting a "boil all water" announcement when there's power outages and no water supply. Doesn't bear thinking about.

They are suffering as a result of the values they uphold. I am really struggling to feel sympathy for them - which probably makes me a terrible human being but there it is

Also, this is a failure of planning ahead, a common human failing. How is this about values?

I will tell you what will happen. They will weather-proof their energy sources, but since this is literally a once-a-generation weather event, they’ll forget all about this in 30 years, forget that cold snaps can happen in Texas, build infrastructure without prepping for cold weather ... and it will happen all over again.

@ThePelicansBriefs

I’m in Texas. Yes we had no power for 2 days straight. House was freezing and nowhere to go. No hot water. No means to cook. Freezer food all thrown away. And I did keep thinking, what about the homeless, the elderly, those with small children? It has been hell. We are lucky our power came back on but so much loss for all the community in terms of wasted food and still places with no water. Unbelievable this has happened.

Why couldn’t you put the food in a cool box outside? If it was freezing, the outside temperature would have preserved the food.

@TankGirl97

And their senator has popped off to Mexico on his hols!

It is scary and I feel so sorry for the poor/old/vulnerable population there, there is so little support for them. The images look like something from The Day After Tomorrow.

That says it all really.

1. Texas is a MASSIVE state - the entire UK would fit into it almost three times over and it has 30 million people - it's as diverse in terms of politics as anywhere else.
2. This weather is completely unprecedented. Most homes in Texas are designed to keep people cool, not warm. To suggest that they should have been prepared for a polar vortex is totally unrealistic.
3. To say that people who are starving and freezing brought this on themselves is unkind and inaccurate. The people suffering are extremely unlikely to have any say in how power grids are managed, how homes are built and whether their pipes will freeze (in the same way that that's true of people here in the UK).
4. Be kind people. You think poor people in the UK deserved to go without food over the last year? So why would you think that of people in Texas?

@MechantGourmet

They were not prepared for the kind of extreme weather we're starting to get as a result of climate change

How many Texans actually believe there is climate change?
How many Texans will actually change things now to prepare for climate change?

I was genuinely shocked to see the photos of the snow dumps, just unheard of in that part of the world. Sadly I believe that many Texan homes have AC but no heating at all (similar to many Australian homes).

And yes, as @MrsTerryPratchett says- imagine getting a "boil all water" announcement when there's power outages and no water supply. Doesn't bear thinking about.

Thing is, the only thing that really works in cold weather is fossil fuels (and nuclear energy, which everyone seems to hate for whatever reason). This was a big issue in the Midwest a couple of years ago:

energynews.us/2019/02/27/midwest/wind-turbine-shutdowns-during-polar-vortex-stoke-midwest-debate/

I really hope this finishes Ted Cruz's political career though ... horrible man. Clearly he skipped off to Cabo to avoid the weather and then when he realise the public anger he returned saying 'Oh yeah, I was just ACCOMPANYING my children', when his DW could've taken them on her own.

@dreamingbohemian

How much notice did people in Texas have? I know it was a freak storm, but was there a couple days' notice?

I'm in Houston and this is my experience.

We knew it was going to get very cold a few days before it hit. We were expecting snow in the northern Houston suburbs with some freezing rain for the rest of the city and Galveston Island. We were told to wrap up pipes, prepare for sporadic blackouts due to freezing electric lines so get your propane, charcoal, flashlight batteries, candles and canned food, bring in your plants and pets and the city prepared "warming centers" for the homeless...

No one expected bitter cold weather of high temperatures of 16F/-8C but the "feels like" temperatures were 0F/-17C. Only SEVEN DAYS ago, it was 72F/22C.

To say we were unprepared is an understatement! We live through devastating floods, hurricanes, high humidity and even higher temperatures. How many people in say, the NE of the US can handle that? Not very many. This type of cold weather is not common so we don't have salt or snow plows, our houses do not have insulation for extreme cold. Hell, I don't even own a jacket or boots!

Our houses, even multi-million dollar houses, were not prepared for what happened next: our power system became overloaded because the cold was unprecedented so the demand for power was severely high AND many of the power stations shut the power off and couldn't supply the population. Plus, they didn't winterize the power stations and the power turbines to save money and several other errors that have caused this utter catastrophe. Lots of errors.

4.4M Texans without power in the state with Houston alone, accounting for 2M of that total. We have had rolling blackouts that were only supposed to have lasted an hour but lasted eight or twelve and others where they shut off on Sunday and are only today coming back online now. The pipes freeze so there's water leaking into homes, boil water notices, heavy snow in San Antonio and Austin has impacted supplies coming to the city to restock stores, no water at our hospitals in addition to our homes...it's a shit situation.

The high today is expected at 35F/1.6C our "feels like temperature" is 28F/-2C and this is the warmest day we have had in a few days.

Right now, we are trying our best to help each other out but when the water and power is restored and the temperatures rise, heads will certainly fucking roll!

Prayers for everyone in Texas and posters who have family there, hope that more help gets there soon.

elp30 Thank you so much for your post.

It sounds absolutely horrific and I cannot believe the range in temperatures.... 22C and then a week later -17C. How on earth can you prepare for that.

Knowing what the UK is like when two inches of snow falls, we'd be in a serious mess over here.

I hope your temps rise to a more manageable level soon

I saw an item on the news today which said that as the demand for electricity has increased the utility Co has put the price up, which reminded me of an expression I heard somewhere recently; the USA isn't a country, its a company, profit at any cost it seems.

It's totally shocking. I've been wondering how things could have gotten so bad in such a rich state of a rich country and why its taken so long for aid to get there. I was aware that there is a large disparity in quality of life after learning about Flint.

I feel so sorry for Texans living through this. I hope they get the support they need nd quickly.

Thing is, the only thing that really works in cold weather is fossil fuels (and nuclear energy, which everyone seems to hate for whatever reason). This was a big issue in the Midwest a couple of years ago:

We run wind turbines perfectly successfully in northern Maine throughout the year. They also work in Alaska.

The problem is that the wind turbines, like the rest of the Texas power grid including the fossil fuel options, were not built with any contingency for low temperatures.

@PlanDeRaccordement we did have it outside but as I said, it began to thaw on our 2nd day of no power. Couldn’t obviously even cook it just to use it up.

@Repetitivestraininjury

I saw an item on the news today which said that as the demand for electricity has increased the utility Co has put the price up, which reminded me of an expression I heard somewhere recently; the USA isn't a country, its a company, profit at any cost it seems.

It is one particular electricity seller, Griddy. They sell to people who choose to buy on a variable rate rather than a fixed rate - not many householders buy this type of plan.

Most people in the US (including myself) buy a plan at a set rate per kwh.

@ZZTopGuitarSolo

Thing is, the only thing that really works in cold weather is fossil fuels (and nuclear energy, which everyone seems to hate for whatever reason). This was a big issue in the Midwest a couple of years ago:

We run wind turbines perfectly successfully in northern Maine throughout the year. They also work in Alaska.

The problem is that the wind turbines, like the rest of the Texas power grid including the fossil fuel options, were not built with any contingency for low temperatures.

Yeah but they have to be backed up with natural gas, when it gets very, very cold there tends to be little wind

Right now, we are trying our best to help each other out but when the water and power is restored and the temperatures rise, heads will certainly fucking roll!

I really hope so. It's one thing for householders to be totally unprepared - like you said, no one expected these temperatures. But for the power companies to have remained so unprepared is outrageous, especially the decision to keep Texas out of the shared power networks that the rest of the country utilises.

I really hope you are all the other side of this nightmare soon.

Yeah but they have to be backed up with natural gas, when it gets very, very cold there tends to be little wind

Most of our wind turbines are in areas that are below freezing for months on end. They work fine.