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Post by myshelly on Feb 16, 2021 2:30:54 GMT
Just entered hour 18 without power I am truly sorry to hear it. With kids, too. I really hope it comes back on soon. Thank you. We are trying to stick it out here tonight, but if it’s still off in the morning we are going to my sister’s for coffee, warm food, and showers. Trying to weigh not wanting to drive on the bad roads versus freezing in here.
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Post by KikiPea on Feb 16, 2021 2:31:02 GMT
Y’all, this is all getting too scary! I’m so stressed for everyone. I hate that there is nothing I can do to help.
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Post by mom on Feb 16, 2021 3:06:38 GMT
I am truly sorry to hear it. With kids, too. I really hope it comes back on soon. Thank you. We are trying to stick it out here tonight, but if it’s still off in the morning we are going to my sister’s for coffee, warm food, and showers. Trying to weigh not wanting to drive on the bad roads versus freezing in here. Im not sure where you are, but my friend has decided to leave their home in Roanoke and go to another family members home near TCU that has electricity. She is saying 35 is clear except for the express lane where the big wreck was at is still closed. Otherwise its open and ok for travel.
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Post by wahinelei on Feb 16, 2021 3:15:11 GMT
Omgoodness reading this post and everyone’s stories makes me feel so badly for all you folks. This pea is sending you warm wishes and aloha from Hawaii.
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Post by Merge on Feb 16, 2021 3:16:57 GMT
Y’all, this is all getting too scary! I’m so stressed for everyone. I hate that there is nothing I can do to help. This feels very much like the survivor’s guilt during Harvey. We have been so very fortunate while so many around us are suffering.
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Post by NanaKate on Feb 16, 2021 3:32:45 GMT
We are in Baytown - for those of you not familiar - about 30 miles east of Houston and we’ve been without power since 5:30 this morning. It’s currently 19 degrees outside.
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Post by fwscrapper on Feb 16, 2021 3:33:27 GMT
Almost into hour 15 without power. Hoping it comes back on before the 2nd round of snow comes in tomorrow evening.
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Post by mom on Feb 16, 2021 3:41:00 GMT
Almost into hour 15 without power. Hoping it comes back on before the 2nd round of snow comes in tomorrow evening. Where are you at? Im in Amarillo and our round 2 will start around 10am tomorrow. Expecting another 4-6 in of snow with ice.
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Post by myshelly on Feb 16, 2021 3:43:39 GMT
Thank you. We are trying to stick it out here tonight, but if it’s still off in the morning we are going to my sister’s for coffee, warm food, and showers. Trying to weigh not wanting to drive on the bad roads versus freezing in here. Im not sure where you are, but my friend has decided to leave their home in Roanoke and go to another family members home near TCU that has electricity. She is saying 35 is clear except for the express lane where the big wreck was at is still closed. Otherwise its open and ok for travel. Thanks, I’m in a suburb. I actually don’t have to get on a highway to get to my sister’s, I just don’t know how the small side streets will be since they are less likely to have been drive on.
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Post by MichyM on Feb 16, 2021 3:48:42 GMT
What a mess, I’m so sorry for you all :/
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RosieKat
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Post by RosieKat on Feb 16, 2021 4:06:13 GMT
We've not lost power here except for a few flickers. (ATX, right near Cedar Park) I have noticed that most of my neighbors' houses are not lit up as normal, so people appear to be trying to use lower amounts of electricity. However, we do have our water shut off at the property line since despite our best efforts, we had a pipe in front freeze and then the faucet part burst off, spewing water like a hydrant. Supposedly a plumber is going to come out tomorrow, but they said it will depend on the weather, since we're supposed to get another storm through tomorrow afternoon/night.
Then just a few minutes ago, our pilot light on our stove just randomly started making that ignition click. We unplugged it and turned the gas off for tonight - we just couldn't deal with another crisis! Googling makes it sound like one of those things that's an easy and simple fix, unless, of course, it isn't!
I'm mostly warm so I don't want to complain too much, but I'm done with this. DH grew up in the midwest and keeps reminding me he moved south for a reason, and that ice storms weren't it! Oh, and our 25th anniversary is this week so it should be a really special time, especially if we can't even shower, lol.
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Post by snugglebutter on Feb 16, 2021 4:10:24 GMT
My IL's ended up coming over here for the night. They live about 45 minutes away but of course went a lot slower this time. They said the roads were pretty empty.
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Post by laurasw on Feb 16, 2021 4:11:00 GMT
We’re in a Houston suburb and lost power around 2:00am. Luckily, we have a gas stove so we’ve been able to cook. It’s sooo cold in here but I know many others have it much worse. At least we have shelter, water and layers of clothing and blankets. So worried for the elderly and people that need electricity to run medical equipment.
It helps that my overweight cat is laying on my legs right now though 😉
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Post by ~summer~ on Feb 16, 2021 4:48:56 GMT
What? What? You were planning on going through this cold weather with no heat in the house? Do you mean a space heater and not central heat? I am confused.
When it is below freezing outside, I want my home to be warm.
I hate the heater and don’t really get cold. It’s on set at 57 right now. We’ll turn it down to 55 when we go to bed. And I’ll turn the ceiling fan on high and have two floor fans pointed at me. But if I had my way, yes, I’d just leave it off and enjoy seeing how cold it will get in here 🤷🏻♀️ we turn the heater completely off at night (granted we are in CA) but in winter when we wake up house is often around 54. All my kids hate the heat and block their vents if/when I turn it on. Weirdos! Edited - sorry to all the peas without power and in the freezing cold - so scary. We are being asked out here to conserve power to help with the grid.
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Post by mom on Feb 16, 2021 5:10:55 GMT
And now Atmos (our natural gas provider) is saying that people will possibly be losing their natural gas & to start preparing for not having it available.
So for anyone making a list, Texas has residents who:
--have had no electricity for almost 24 hours --entire cities have no water available (because they use electricity to purify the water) --and now natural gas is going to be unavailable in homes.
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Post by laurasw on Feb 16, 2021 5:29:22 GMT
And now Atmos (our natural gas provider) is saying that people will possibly be losing their natural gas & to start preparing for not having it available. So for anyone making a list, Texas has residents who: --have had no electricity for almost 24 hours --entire cities have no water available (because they use electricity to purify the water) --and now natural gas is going to be unavailable in homes. Wow, I really hope that doesn’t happen.
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Post by librarylady on Feb 16, 2021 5:37:16 GMT
Our 10 PM news says 60% Of the Houston area is without electricity. 60%!! That is a huge number of homes with no power or heat in 19 degree temperatures and falling temps.
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smcast
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Post by smcast on Feb 16, 2021 5:45:19 GMT
This is so scary! Just what we need during a pandemic. I'm so sorry.
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lesmcf
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Post by lesmcf on Feb 16, 2021 6:51:23 GMT
We just got the power back. Off at 9:39 this morning on about an hour-in ten minute intervals. Off since 6 pm and just turned on. Hubby is getting up every 90 minutes to break ice in the pool. Gonna be worse tomorrow. Just need power long enough to charge up electronics but I hope we have it all day. Hope everyone is safe.
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Post by Merge on Feb 16, 2021 12:20:25 GMT
Welp, our power went out overnight. I was hoping that meant some others had had it restored, but it doesn’t sound like that’s the case.
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Post by yivit on Feb 16, 2021 12:53:03 GMT
Welp, our power went out overnight. I was hoping that meant some others had had it restored, but it doesn’t sound like that’s the case. Oh no! Please stay safe and as warm as you can. I went to bed around 0130 after making the last round (checking for any evidence of leak etc from the outside lines, checking the water heater that's on an outside wall, checking the washing machine that's near another outside wall, making sure the kitchen sink cabinet hadn't been closed and that there was enough hot water in the mix to keep water moving in those pipes, checking the bathroom sink cabinet, checking the tub - which is the furthest point from the main - to make sure there was adequate flow). Got up about 0530 and checked everything inside again - so far so good. DS got out yesterday and broke up the ice that was on the porch, patio and driveway since it looked like it was going nowhere any time soon (and it hasn't - the chunks are still where he shoveled them). There's still a light (and slick) layer on part of the sidewalk where the roof melted and dripped down during the periods of sun yesterday. My sister's power went out AGAIN around 1800 yesterday. It was below freezing inside her house and single digits outside. My aunt's power came back on around 0220 this morning after being off for around 20 hours. I wish she lived 2 streets further south so she was on the critical infrastructure grid that we used to be on and could have avoided this. BFF's power is back ON too, yay! 23 hours out. Maybe they are doing a slow 'roll' after all or maybe they got some of the generation plants back online overnight to help out. Everyone stay safe. We're ALMOST through this. Hang on and we'll be back to our regularly scheduled flip flops this weekend.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Feb 16, 2021 13:12:54 GMT
@merge - I’m sorry you lost power. Hoping they get everyone back up and running sooner rather than later. Stay warm!
27 hours without power and counting. We survived the night, but temps in the house are down in the 40’s now. Starting to wheeze a bit because cold aggravates my asthma. So when DH woke up this morning and said to book a room, I didn’t hesitate. Checking into a hotel at 3 pm with a 3 night reservation. We are just not optimistic that we will have power before Friday. If the power does come back on, we will just view it as a mini vacation for his 65th that was on Sunday.
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Post by christine58 on Feb 16, 2021 13:18:19 GMT
And now Atmos (our natural gas provider) is saying that people will possibly be losing their natural gas & to start preparing for not having it available. So for anyone making a list, Texas has residents who: --have had no electricity for almost 24 hours --entire cities have no water available (because they use electricity to purify the water) --and now natural gas is going to be unavailable in homes. Did I just see across the bottom of Good Morning America that your governor is blaming the power companies for this??
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Post by jeremysgirl on Feb 16, 2021 13:25:20 GMT
And now Atmos (our natural gas provider) is saying that people will possibly be losing their natural gas & to start preparing for not having it available. So for anyone making a list, Texas has residents who: --have had no electricity for almost 24 hours --entire cities have no water available (because they use electricity to purify the water) --and now natural gas is going to be unavailable in homes. This is just awful! I'm so sorry. I feel for you guys.
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Post by iamkristinl16 on Feb 16, 2021 13:31:06 GMT
Our power lines are all above ground in my city and I've only lost power once in the 10 years I've lived here due to an ice storm. That was due to a tree falling on a power line. This doesn't happen often because our power companies trim and remove the trees that interfere with power lines. Do they not do that in Texas? We are far more likely to lose power in the spring with huge gusting rain storms...that knock trees down. Now that I've said that out loud I'm sure I'm in for a big storm that knocks our power out. Ha! But seriously I wish you all the best. Just pretend you're visiting Michigan for the week! ![;)](//storage.proboards.com/5645536/images/Q_m8lDOvc_3Le3r1GKdf.jpg) They do come around and trim trees periodically, but in a city this large, they don’t get to all of them as quickly as they should. IDK why it’s different here. I’d speculate that newer lines in Michigan are built to withstand your typical weather in some way, in the same way that many of our newer buildings are built to withstand hurricanes or raised to avoid flooding. One of the reasons we cancel school when it’s this cold, also, is that a large proportion of our public school kids don’t even have a winter coat, gloves, etc. Parents in poverty don’t spend money on something the kid may not use before he outgrows it. I’m always a little surprised when I see people post pics of them or their kids in full winter gear, while saying that they never have winter weather, etc. I surely wouldn’t buy winter gear if it isn’t going to get worn. Heck, my older kids don’t even want to wear their coats, hats or gloves to school even when it is -30. Trying to get them to understand that yes, they are only going to be on the car or bus a short time. But if something happens along the way and you are stuck outside, it could be dangerous. Then there is me that is always cold. But admittedly I hardly ever wear a hat or gloves.
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Post by Merge on Feb 16, 2021 13:54:35 GMT
And now Atmos (our natural gas provider) is saying that people will possibly be losing their natural gas & to start preparing for not having it available. So for anyone making a list, Texas has residents who: --have had no electricity for almost 24 hours --entire cities have no water available (because they use electricity to purify the water) --and now natural gas is going to be unavailable in homes. Did I just see across the bottom of Good Morning America that your governor is blaming the power companies for this?? I don’t know what you saw on GMA, so it’s hard to say. Abbott yesterday was truthful in saying the problem was with power generation plants that have failed - not only frozen wind turbines in the west, but also coal and gas powered plants that have been unable to operate in extreme cold. I read an article in the Houston paper yesterday that cited an energy professor at UH, saying that our power production facilities have not been well maintained/updated due to the fact that power is entirely deregulated here, and thus were unable to manage this weather. Texas is unique in that the majority of the state is on a grid that is not connected to any other states. This is done to avoid federal regulation of our power system, and this seems to be the result.
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Post by KikiPea on Feb 16, 2021 14:03:04 GMT
Y’all, this is all getting too scary! I’m so stressed for everyone. I hate that there is nothing I can do to help. This feels very much like the survivor’s guilt during Harvey. We have been so very fortunate while so many around us are suffering. It’s true! We STILL have power (No idea why.), and my parent’s is still out. Luckily, they were given a place to stay for the night. The news said if you don’t have it, you probably won’t today at all. We are now almost out of water. We filled our tub last night, and will use it till it’s gone. We are about 2 min. from our grocery store, and IF it looks remotely safe, we may drive up there, but they are probably already out of everything.
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Post by jeremysgirl on Feb 16, 2021 14:03:59 GMT
Did I just see across the bottom of Good Morning America that your governor is blaming the power companies for this?? I don’t know what you saw on GMA, so it’s hard to say. Abbott yesterday was truthful in saying the problem was with power generation plants that have failed - not only frozen wind turbines in the west, but also coal and gas powered plants that have been unable to operate in extreme cold. I read an article in the Houston paper yesterday that cited an energy professor at UH, saying that our power production facilities have not been well maintained/updated due to the fact that power is entirely deregulated here, and thus were unable to manage this weather. Texas is unique in that the majority of the state is on a grid that is not connected to any other states. This is done to avoid federal regulation of our power system, and this seems to be the result. Fuck! There are just some things that need to be state and federal my controlled. Utilities are one of them. You can't deregulate everything. I was very involved in the process through my work in the Michigan legislature when deregulation was being debated. And it amazing just how far some advocates want to take it. I think we need to look at this failure in Texas to see the very real outcome of total deregulation.
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Post by monklady123 on Feb 16, 2021 14:08:28 GMT
Wow. ![:o](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/shocked.png) I've just now read through some of this thread since discovering this morning that it was 10 degrees where my friend lives in Kerrville. I'm so sorry this is happening! wow. -- Some years ago we lost power for over a week due to a derecho storm... but that was in the summer! Yes it was hot without AC, but I think it's MUCH easier to deal with no power in the summer than in the winter. At least we could go sit outside with our semi-cold drink (7-11 did have ice to buy, which we kept in a small cooler) and hope for a breeze. That's not going to help you when it's cold out! Now I need to go check the news and see the most recent weather information. ![:o](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/shocked.png)
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Post by KikiPea on Feb 16, 2021 14:09:25 GMT
And now Atmos (our natural gas provider) is saying that people will possibly be losing their natural gas & to start preparing for not having it available. So for anyone making a list, Texas has residents who: --have had no electricity for almost 24 hours --entire cities have no water available (because they use electricity to purify the water) --and now natural gas is going to be unavailable in homes. WTH?!!?!!?!?!? Not sure how that will happen. They can’t just turn it off/on. This is insane.
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