Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It isn't just Texas, it's every state; power lines should have been buried decades ago unless seawater intrusion prevents it.
I'm 1,000 miles north of you, and should we receive a substantial ice storm with high winds; it would be grid down situation here as well. I'm not certain how long backup generators would keep the water flowing here either, broken pipes or not.
And while I do respect the OP not wishing for thread to discuss preparedness, I do feel it is important.
In fact, I'm not; so am considering a generator just b/c of what I witnessed in your state.
Best wishes on getting back to normal there, hopefully soon.
Our issue in Texas had absolutely nothing to do with power lines being above ground. It was greed coupled with no regulations (because regulations prevent energy companies from making money). Could the disaster in Texas been prevented? Yep. But there's no financial incentive to have an excess of energy lying around for instances like this. We may have had some equipment failures, like every other place does. But they could have been quickly fixed. Instead we got nearly a week of "there's nothing we can do until it warms up and everyone stops trying to heat their homes and power their oxygen tanks at the same time." Oh, and the company that controls all of this, and is ultimately responsible for what happened, has sovereign immunity. So they can not be held responsible financially, civilly, or criminally.
They do have plows and salt trucks, we saw them out. They just do not know how to use them efficiently and effectively. This was the Dallaas/Denton area. Other areas may not have any.
They do have plows and salt trucks, we saw them out. They just do not know how to use them efficiently and effectively. This was the Dallaas/Denton area. Other areas may not have any.
In Dallas and points north, yes, they have a few. Most of the state (I'm in Austin) does not have a single one.
Ironically, the area near the panhandle (as well as El Paso) is not on the Texas grid. They are the only two parts of the state that are part of the federal grid. They are also the only two parts of the state that didn't have outages.
But to be honest, the snow wasn't really the issue. The issue was the below freezing temperatures for a sustained period of time. Everyone in the state was trying to heat their houses, and our grid could not provide enough power for people to do that. It wasn't because power lines were damaged - there may have been isolated cases of that, but that was insignificant. It was because the grid just could not supply enough power to every resident.
NOTE: This is NOT a political discussion. Nor is it a preparedness discussion. It's about decision making.
After watching the kerfuffle around Ted Cruz going to Cancun to escape the bad Texas weather, I got to thinking. With conditions so bad, why didn't more people choose to leave for a few days to get out of the cold?
In the past, one main reason to stay would have been because of having to work. However, with the pandemic, most people are working from home and could work from anywhere for a few days.
Property safety wouldn't be an issue because people routinely leave their homes unoccupied for a few days while they go on vacation. Worrying about frozen pipes wouldn't matter because that's an uncontrollable variable. The pipes would burst with or without you being home.
It has been such a tragedy. So, why didn't more people choose to temporarily relocate for a few days? Did they not think about it? Was it because they didn't have the money?
We live in the New York area. The last extended disaster was Sandy, which left us without power for four days, almost to the minute. Our schools were closed for the storm on Monday, October 29, 2012. Rather than closing the schools for a few days they announced closings day by day. We could easily have gone to my in-laws second home in Manchester, Vermont. Instead we stayed and shivered as the temperatures dropped from around 60° at the beginning of the week to around 45° by weeks' end.
We would have moved to the more comfortable place had the school district been more forthcoming. They're usually pretty good so I won't hold it against them. I think in Ted Cruz's situation he can't win vs. the press. It's that simple. They gave him a harder time than they're giving others in spite of Cruz's arguably bad judgment not having any fatal consequences.
So, if an extreme weather event, that you SEE COMING doesn't make you evacuate, what would make you evacuate?
How about fire? Would you leave if a range fire was headed your way? You can see it coming, but there's not a damn thing you can do about it. I know tornado's pop up kinda quick, so let's leave those out. Earthquake's occur without warning, so those are out. Yup, a huge cold front with sub zero prolonged temps, we can see that puppy drift down from the North DAYS in advance.
I dunno.
Let's say extreme heat wave was coming. Let's say the for caste was 160 degrees for the next 3 weeks. Would you evacuate the area? Or, would you stay because of your damn "fur baby?" Bear in mind, there will be no electricity for fans/AC either. And the roads will be impassable for whatever reason.
I'll repeat this again, we had absolutely NO reason to believe that the state's power grid system was so pathetically run that pretty much the entire state would lose power for nearly a week. We were told to MAYBE expect a few rolling blackouts. The possibility of maybe losing power for a couple of hours is not a reason to flee the entire state and if that happened, all would have been fine.
TED travelled to Mexico and then back to Texas where the law required he be isolated coming in from Mexico for 14 days. Ignoring the law hew went to Washington DC to infect Congress.
In some areas, it was impossible to get out of the driveway much less take off to a warmer locale. Shreveport regional airport was closed, all the interstates were closed and there was no way a person could leave without taking ridiculous chances. No way in or out. Plenty of foolhardy folks tried, but got stuck.
We no longer have any salting equipment nor sand trucks, thanks to state budget cuts in Louisiana. These type of weather episodes happen more often than you think, just not usually as bad as this one was. So instead of road treatment, the DOT just closes all the roads.
One big difference - where we live (Michigan) the power goes out when we have a big storm. It happens pretty often. However we are prepared for it. Lots of people have generators, and everyone has back up heat sources. Most of us cook with gas, so worst case, you can light your oven, open the door and let it heat your house somewhat. Many or maybe most businesses have generators, or at least enough of them we can still get food and services. We also have plows and salt trucks and know how to use them, and we know how to handle driving in the snow relatively safely (plus we have winterized cars, and often snow tires).
Heck a decade or so ago, the entire NE USA grid went down for up to four days. It happens. Everyone got by. Why? Because most people and businesses were prepared for power outages. They happen nearly every year sometimes multiple times a year. One year, we had power out six times, sometimes for several days.
So the issue as I see it was not so much that the power went out. Power goes out. It happens. The issue Texans encountered is they were not prepared for power to go out. It also seems like everyone is all electric, no one seems to use natural gas for heat, cooking, or water heaters. The few generators are powered by gasoline or diesel with only a few hours of fuel available. People died because they lacked education as to the dangers of bringing a barbecue or a generator or other combustion source inside a house. Why do they not know these common knowledge things? Because it never happens there. They never had a reason to bring a barbecue inside their house. (Ok - the copious amounts of alcohol Texans are famous for consuming may have had something to do with it as well. However even drunk Michiganders know that you do not bring combustion items inside a house (still a few do it every now and then, but most of them are dead, so not many are left to do it)).
The real problem may be that the Texas power is too reliable. Since it does not go out often enough, no one was prepared for it to go out. No preparation, no alternatives, no education.
Texas needs a less reliable power grid. Toughen those Texans up and teach them to live without power.
Last edited by Coldjensens; 02-23-2021 at 04:18 PM..
^This. Exactly why I use gas for water heating and cooking. Electric has overtaken gas in many places, but there is this situation which gas is usually always working. We didn't lose ours nor the electricity but for 4 hours on tuesday. Don't like the Texas electrical system at all.
And hurricanes. lost more power from Laura last year than this cold wave.
I think in Ted Cruz's situation he can't win vs. the press. It's that simple. They gave him a harder time than they're giving others in spite of Cruz's arguably bad judgment not having any fatal consequences.
Our corrup, indicted Attorney General, Ken Paxton, is also taking heat for leaving the state during the emergency, but at least he went somewhere cold (Utah) instead of a beach resort. Our governor, Greg Abbott, is being dumped on for failure to lead. But it's true that Ted Cruz can't win. Is there any other politician who is so universally loathed, both by his constituents and outside the state, and with such a meager record of accomplishment? Can't think of anyone. He's a great target and so shameless. Maybe he could learn something from AOC, who travelled TO Houston with almost $5M in relief money.
Quote:
At the height of last week's winter storm that left millions of Texans without access to heat and clean water, Attorney General Ken Paxton and his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, were out of state on a "previously planned" business trip to Utah, a spokesman confirmed. ...
The Texas attorney general's office has stayed in the headlines as of late. Paxton was indicted for felony securities fraud more than five years ago, though his criminal trial is still pending. Lately, the agency has been hemorrhaging top deputies. Several of them resigned or were fired last fall after accusing Paxton of accepting a bribe. They said he used his office to help a donor who was facing civil lawsuits and a criminal investigation. Paxton has denied the allegations, which the FBI is reportedly investigating.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
