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.

OMG. Just seen a vid of a fish tank inside a house completely frozen like a block of ice, and obviously all the fish dead

And very many people have died, this is just so awful for Texans

@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.

I'm on a few of my FB local community pages and I've been flabbergasted and deeply concerned by several people in my suburb who have been hit with $1200 (£856) electric bill for this event. They are not on fixed-rate contracts and they are being hammered with insane costs.

Just when you think you can't take anymore, the hits keep coming:

www.click2houston.com/news/local/2021/02/17/time-to-switch-power-providers-why-waiting-until-after-the-texas-electricity-crisis-could-be-costly/

Thanks @elp30, that sounds horrible. So everyone was told to prepare but things ended up much worse than expected? It must be a terrible shock.

I'm not sure though why you say people in the NE don't have extreme weather to deal with, we have our own storms and floods and natural disasters all the time, and now lately we are also having to deal with hurricanes (like Hurricane Sandy, which was pretty catastrophic in NY/NJ). Lately we also have extreme heatwaves in normally cool parts up north, just like you are not prepared for snow, we are not prepared for that kind of heat, and quite a lot of people end up dying from it (mostly old and vulnerable).

I think every part of the US needs to wake up to climate change and start getting better prepared, it's only going to get worse from here.

They need to look into ways to not be so reliant on electricity. We all do really.

@ZZTopGuitarSolo

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.

Below freezing in F or C? If the former, you almost definitely have natural gas as peakers to keep warm on those really cold days.

@ZZTopGuitarSolo

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.

Weather is different in different places.

Just because one place is windy that doesn’t mean anywhere else is windy.

@Cassilis

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.

I see your point, but that doesnt make sense. Texas as a state is a geographical area. Geographical areas dont feel pain/suffer. "Teas the State" is doing just fine. The living beings within its borders are the ones suffering.

Yes absolutely, there needs to be better preparations across every level of government.

After 9/11 there was an absolutely insane amount of money and time spent on counter-terrorism preparations, all across the country, and not just in terms of police and emergency services but across the board. Like any random office building should have an emergency plan in case of terrorist attack. I remember receiving a letter about the warning signs of radiological devices and how to evacuate the city. And of course in the end, almost all of this was unnecessary.

If only we could see that kind of attention and effort paid to preparing for climate change.

Weather is different in different places.

Just because one place is windy that doesn’t mean anywhere else is windy.

Well yes. I'd hope the wind turbines they built in Texas were built in windy areas.

But for Texas politicians to try to insist that a) it's impossible to make green energy like wind turbines work in cold weather and b) the fossil fuel plants in Texas were unaffected by the cold weather and therefore c) green energy is to blame for the power outages in Texas is entirely untrue and actively misleading.

Wind turbines work in windy areas that are also cold. This has been demonstrated in cold windy parts of the US.

The power outages in Texas were caused by their power generation system not being built with any contingency for cold weather - this is true of both their wind turbines and their fossil fuel plants and distribution.

@UsedUpUsername "Below freezing in F or C? If the former, you almost definitely have natural gas as peakers to keep warm on those really cold days."

But below freezing is the same temperature regardless of whether you measure it in F or C? Water doesnt freeze at different temperatures depending on the thermometer you use (obviously the units of measurement are different so the numbers are different). But the temperatures not actually warmer/colder.

Below freezing in F or C? If the former, you almost definitely have natural gas as peakers to keep warm on those really cold days.

Below freezing in C. Similar to the temperatures Texas has experience in the last week.

@countingthestarswithmini

They need to look into ways to not be so reliant on electricity. We all do really.

Presumably some housing is built to deflect/expel heat as much as physically possible and reduce need for AC. That's why you have a frozen fish tank inside a house, as mentioned upthread. There's little to no insulation on these homes. It's not necessarily about electricity demand. Though, maybe there isn't mains gas there, as there is in UK, so their heating is running on electricity??

[quote apalledandshocked]@UsedUpUsername "Below freezing in F or C? If the former, you almost definitely have natural gas as peakers to keep warm on those really cold days."

But below freezing is the same temperature regardless of whether you measure it in F or C? Water doesnt freeze at different temperatures depending on the thermometer you use (obviously the units of measurement are different so the numbers are different). But the temperatures not actually warmer/colder.[/quote]
Indeed - to an American 'below freezing' means below 32F or 0C.

Though, maybe there isn't mains gas there, as there is in UK, so their heating is running on electricity??

In large rural states mains gas is not common - but what we are developing fairly heavily is heat pump based power, which provides cooling in summer and heating in winter.

I live in a town that got mains gas in the last 10 years, and we're seriously considering replacing our gas system with a heat pump system. But then you're back to being reliant on electricity, and we get a lot of power cuts because of snow/ice storms, high winds, etc.

It's a bit circular really...

I think every part of the US needs to wake up to climate change and start getting better prepared, it's only going to get worse from here

Right on cue... US has, as of today, officially rejoined the Paris Climate Accord.
That is excellent news.

Of course that doesnt help now with what Texans are going through but it's a step in the right direction.

elp30, It's scary, that something as basic as utilities could be subject to free market profiteering to such an extreme degree, do you think with Biden in power some form of state regulation or safety net will be possible? I remember seeing some statistics about the number of people who had their water supplies cut off during the first lockdown, as someone from the UK, which is far from perfect btw, I find it truly horrific and heartless to think this happens in the worlds richest economy and given recent events here that we could head in a similar direction.

@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.

Yes it does, and ignorant too!

@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.

That's a bit like accusing everyone in the UK of not voting to support the NHS. A party can be in government with under 50% of the vote. Even if they have over 50%, it's not everyone! And sometimes when the poorest people are right wing, it's because they haven't got enough education to be able to resist right wing propaganda, or they're just so desperate. That will annoy some people, but it's true imo.

@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.

Do you have TDS?

I struggle to comprehend the incredible depth of rabid hatred for fellow human beings who are in dire need (and who coincidentally voted for the other party).

"Below freezing in F or C? If the former, you almost definitely have natural gas as peakers to keep warm on those really cold days."

Freezing is freezing in whatever measure isn't it?

People talking about prepping

I have more in my flat than mum will keep in her much bigger home. She is in her 80s, eats like a bird and had to be persuaded to keep a couple of tins of soup spare.

I don't know if it's blind faith in government, some kind of denial or some kind of belief.

In an emergency, I couldn't reach her so she's not relying on me. I find it very odd.

For people in states outside Texas I think one result of this is that we've now seen what happens when you deregulate, leave things to the free market economy, and choose not to prepare for things like extreme climate events.

So when we have Republicans and Libertarians insisting that we're overspending on things that save lives, hopefully their message will be easier to refute.

Of course this is probably just me just living in hope...

@oil0W0lio

It's shocking to see third world conditions in a first world country, but a wealthy country with high levels of inequality is not a 'rich' country it is a cruel and morally bankrupt country

Well said. I find it heart breaking that this is happening in one of the richest countries in the world.

I also can't understand the lack of sympathy for people who voted a certain way.

Below freezing in F or C?
I'm guessing this is a typo and you mean below zero.
Below freezing would be below freezing regardless of the measurements used, a rose by any other name and all that.