Monday, February 22, 2021 Special Edition -Truly historic event -Texas Winter Storm 2021
Special Edition from Texas
Snow day/Presidents’ Day & Beyond
First, y’all are getting a special edition from Texas since I (Deborah Dorff) make the daily posts to this site and I’ve been unavailable due to this very unusual storm in Texas. Here’s a mostly day by day account of what we experienced.
Temperatures had been steadily dropping for several days. The forecast was for more cold and maybe some snow. Sunday night, we had a bit more than a dusting of snow, which was pleasant, mostly because this is a rare occurrence in Central Texas. This was actually our second snow of the season.
Monday morning, we woke to a chilly house, more snow, and no power. No worries, we have battery back-ups and had already been dripping our faucets to prevent freezing pipes. We collected our drippings and filled a stock pot, in case we lost water. Road conditions were reported as snow-packed and icy, so we chose to stay put. We were hopeful the power would return soon.
We quickly realized that we were not only without power, but we were also almost completely without cell service. We had a very limited ability to text. We started checking in with friends and neighbors and the news was not good. Broken pipes, no power, no water, and treacherous roads.
Photos of the Neighborhood
Fallen trees and other vegetation throughout the state contributed to power outages.
Native plants were impacted by snow and ice.
Birds finding food in our holly tree
A Heritage Oak weighed down with ice.
Tuesday we had a heat source to melt snow and to cook .
The Daily Podcast by the New York Times featured the power failure in Texas.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/17/podcasts/the-daily/texas-statewide-blackout-climate-change.html
Tuesday night by candle light and Wednesday morning trying to stay warm.
Wednesday things began to thaw…
Thursday we lost water
Friday we ventured out for more water from a friend who still had running water and heat.
Friday afternoon, four and a half days later, we had power again and began the process of heating our home. By Saturday afternoon, we felt it was safe to turn on our water. The city of Austin is still requiring that we boil our water before consuming it. Throughout the week very few stores were open and there were long lines and limited items for purchase.
Most counties in Texas have hit the threshold for disaster relief and FEMA is on the ground trying to process claims. Throughout the week there were warming locations, but people were asked to bring their own food and blankets. By Saturday, multiple locations had been set up for water distribution using supplies sent in from neighboring states.
This ordeal will quickly be a memory for most even though full restoration, for many, will take months.
Deborah Dorff
Text by Judith Berdy & Deborah Dorff
Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS
Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website
Edited by Deborah Dorff
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