[AragoASB]

Do you know what happens at hospitals? What happens is called a Code white. That means when nurses report for duty, at the end of their shift they cannot go home. The hospitals become like a roach motels for nurses, they come in but cannot leave. Code white ospitals are packed with old ladies that went out to play in the snow, fell and broke their hips. Med Surg floors are crammed with car accident victims. Homeless guys found passed out on the street are brought in and they promptly go into DTs. Nurses that were supposed to come on duty cannot make it because the roads are frozen. This means all hands on deck. If you can make it to the hospital, that is where your duty is and where you will live until things thaw out. I worked at a 9 story hospital in Austin. Last time this happened I knew what was coming, a code white. I was supposed to be off for 4 days so I called and said I volunteer to come in but I need my own room, a closet or something, and my meals delivered to my room. They said OK . They had put 40 miserable cots in the basement for the nurses. There was a hospital wide pillow shortage. I returned to my room after a 16 hour shift and caught an intern coming out of my room with my pillow. I got it and beat him with it. This is one of my fondest memories.

 

[Horsef]

Please beware that snow can plug up your exhaust pipe if you are warming up in your car. People have died like that before. If you are running your car and it’s snowing, make sure you clear the exhaust very often (depending on how fast it’s snowing). And never run your car in a closed garage.

 

[ACinATX]

We had power for six hours yesterday and then it was off again at sunset until just now. We still have gas, although the gas service is saying gas may have to shut off. Some in the city and nearby cities are without water. Many are on boil water notice. I guess a lot of the water treatment and pumping stations got shut off. A story in the news today about a neighborhood that hasn't had power for three days and nobody can get in or out because there are only two roads in and both are on steep slopes, totally iced over. I think there is maybe one snow plow in the whole city.

We've seen pictures of downtown Austin and Houston lit up bright as day while everyone else suffers. It's because they are on critical circuits (e.g. there are a number of hospitals, the jail, etc. down there) but I hope after this someone can figure out how to turn the lights off in those office towers downtown when this happens again. Just seeing them all lit up light jewels in the night while elderly people huddle in the cold ... really bad.

 

[ACinATX]

If I lived in Texas, and was without power for this long, I'd be demanding a review of the energy policies/grid. This never should have happened.

Yes, as I was shivering in the dark yesterday I was like, "As long as heads roll for this, I'll be happy." Sad, but true.

@Jessie33 I heard El Paso didn't have as many blackouts as the rest of the state. Do you know if that's true?

 

[QtrBel]

El Paso is not on the same grid system. As a border city they are outside ERCOT and were spared that.

 

[Remali]

Saw it on the news, looks awful with all the ice and snow, and then to have no power and no heat. I've been thinking of all of you in Texas. I sure hope it gets better soon.
It's been cold here, 20 to 35 below (I'm in western Wisconsin), but then we're used to it and prepared for it up here, I've been staying home hibernating with my dog.

Sure hope they do a decent investigation into what happened in Texas... heads should definitely roll.

 

[myhorserules]

Still no power here. They had been rolling outages since Monday then it went off yesterday at lunch and never came back on. It's 46°F in the house probably even colder in my camper. The electric company said to notify them if we were out for longer than 45 minutes. I have multiple times and all I get is the "we're aware of outages in your area" automatic response.

 

[farmpony84]

Do you have a generator?

We were out of power 11 days after a hurricane. It's no fun. I did see VA sent a ton of trucks to Texas and I'm sure other states are doing the same. Help is on the way at least.

 

[myhorserules]

Yes we have one but it's not very large so can't run a lot off of it or for very long stretches. We will definitely be getting more after all this bs is over.

 

[ACinATX]

@myhorserules I hope you get your power turned back on soon! Do you at least have gas?

We (whole city) are under a boil water notice because of low water pressure in the system, although we're not seeing that here. Tomorrow the temps should get above freezing for the first time in about a week, in the afternoon. I'm thinking everyone's burst pipes are going to start spewing water and the whole system is going to go down to zero water pressure. They're asking us to conserve water now, but I may take a shower today because otherwise who knows when there will be water. I think it's better to use some water today than to wait until there is none.

They said some hospitals ran out of water, possibly because of a water main break downtown. At least one of the hospitals used water for the heating system, so they are also losing heat. They're trying to transport patients but it's not like there are a ton of hospitals with lots of beds that weren't affected by the storm.

 

[walkinthewalk]

I apologize for butting in because my prayers and thoughts are with everyone in Texas🙏🙏.


Just because you folks tell everyone you do things bigger, doesn’t mean you had to include these ice storms😱

I’m in Southern Middle Tennessee. We lost power Sunday at 6:00 PM for 66 hours. We got it back for 14 hours, lost it again, and it just came back on around 1:00 PM today. We just had another 60 second hiccup and I hope that was only the power company resetting something.

The ice on the trees is beyond horrendous — it sounded like a literal war zone up on the ridge with trees breaking and falling. It is so bad up there, we will never get that entire fence row cleaned up, not even if the cow guy on the opposite side helps.

1. I am glad I cross fenced this place so I could keep the horses close to the barn during the day. They come in at night but their nerves are shot with trees still breaking around them.

2. I said all that to say anyone who doesn’t have at least a portable generator needs to invest in one. We bought our Honda when we moved here 17 years ago. This is the first time we have had to use it for an emergency in all that time. It had already paid for itself but it paid for itself again, during this power outage because its 6500 watt self runs the furnace, the refrigerator, a few lights and two TV’s. Well worth the $3,500 investment all those years ago.

2.1. If you can’t afford a true standby generator that kicks in automatically and runs on propane, geeezusss invest in a portable Generato.

Whatever it takes, find a way to buy a generator— if you only need it for one weather emergency, it will pay for itself.

My biggest issue was that I had to haul warm water to the horses because the generator doesn’t cover the barn and heated water tubs need electricity.

The window foto is one of my west windows Sunday, when the ice slammed the west side of the house. The other foto is from somewhere in my county and it is only one of many reasons why power was out for so long.

Blessings to the linemen, the DOT salt truck drivers, and the water companies who send people out in the middle of this weather to risk their lives for the rest of us. In a way, they sacrifice for the well being of everyone and whatever time & a half or double time pay they get paid is not enough.

 

[myhorserules]

@walkinthewalk you're by no means butting in! Sounds like y'all have had rough go of it too. Hopefully things even out and settle down for everyone weather wise.

We finally got power back this afternoon. It got cold as heck in the houses though. I was on my way to my sisters house to borrow another generator when it came on. I still got it though because we don't know what going to happen over the next few days. Also got to see my niece and nephew for a short while so that made me really happy.

 

[walkinthewalk]

@myhorserules Hang onto that generator. We just lost power again at 8:00 PM. I still hear tree limbs coming down so I imagine our Power company won’t be able to have a permanent fix until the weekend, when all this ice melts.

It’s heating up to 41 over the weekend and at least the 50’s next week.

Hopefully we are all done with this weather for this year.

 

[ACinATX]

We got to above freezing today and stuff is melting. We got all three of our outdoor faucets running. I forgot if I mentioned it, but one of the indoor ones froze. I guess we got it thawed out quickly enough, because it didn't burst. Also that outdoor pipe was still running even though the other two weren't, at first. I was able to get to that wall (it was under the sink). I heated up a bunch of bricks in the oven, for an hour or so, and then put them under the cabinet along with some boiling water. It seems to have kept things warm.

We have running water although we're under a boil water notice. A lot of people don't. A lot of people also have burst pipes. Our neighbors cattycorner across the street did. The ones right across the street, they turned off their water at the street and then left to stay with their inlaws. When they came back, they couldn't get the water on again.

I wish more people from Texas would check in. I know there are a lot of us. I really hope everyone at least has electricity now. Lots of people are using their stoves to melt snow and icicles for water to flush their toilets or even to drink. You can't do that without electricity.

 

[walkinthewalk]

I’m glad you’re thawing out and the damage seems minimal.

If you’re on city water, the way to easily tell if you have a leak is to it run any water in the house for several minutes. Then take the lid off your water meter box and watch the meter needle for a minute or two.

it should not move at all. If it flickers or does move, there’s a leak somewhere between the meter and/or in the house. The faster the needle moves, the worse the leak.

We got power back around 3:30 PM, we were out 19-1/2 hours this time. We are also warming up and that may start more limbs crashing down, so I’m not holding out hope the power will stay on, lolll

Tomorrow I will pull my car out of the side yard where DH slid it almost down to the road

 

[ACinATX]

@walkinthewalk I hope stuff goes back to normal for you soon, too.

 

[walkinthewalk]

@walkinthewalk I hope stuff goes back to normal for you soon, too.

Thanks very much AC😘

somewhere between coming up from the barn and getting in the house ————— we entered power outage #4😂😂

Early this AM, DH was all set to take the generator back to the workshop. I told him not to bother until all the ice melts and we can last at least 72 hours with the power company. Lo and Behold —— 😂😂

Bit the sun is out in a clear blue sky, so that helps a lot. Joker has settled but not yet back to 100% calm. All those trees breaking and no mercury lights at the barn rattled him a lot more than I would have ever imagined. I’m sure his Cushings and the glands it affects is a big contributor to his angst.

Two nights ago DH called Joker to the barn. Joker got right to the door and refused to go in; no power so a very dark barn. Joker stood at the fence until I got to the barn and I managed to convince him to walk in with me.

DH is a very hypertensive Type A while I am the polar opposite Type B. The horses (mine anyway). put more faith in “B” than “A”, plus I am the one who does all the handling and “ground” work with them.

Sorry that’s OT but maybe not if some folks have seen a difference in their horses behavior during this extreme weather event.

 

[ACinATX]

It's funny, when I went to see them yesterday I did notice a difference. Not much with Teddy. But Moonshine seemed a little needy, which is unusual for her. And Pony was just super tired and dozy. I hope he's feeling OK. Maybe he got worked up a lot during all the snow and now he just needs some time to rest. He didn't lose any weight from what I can tell, unfortunately.

 

[Acadianartist]

Came in just to check on you @ACinATX and now I see @walkinthewalk is dealing with issues too! I have been seeing the news and wondering how people are providing water to livestock... This is a problem anytime there is an extended power outage. Water is the first thing you realize you need and cannot get. There is no easy solution if you are dependent on city water, or even if you are on a well, but have an electric pump without a generator. And even with a generator, you have to have fuel.

The last extended power outage that happened here caught us as we were vacationing with the kids in Alberta. We didn't have horses then, but our neighbors were looking after our dogs. We lost contact with them after the first day (a hurricane hit - a rarity in our parts). We couldn't do anything from Alberta, couldn't reach our neighbors (all the phones were out, and the cell phones all eventually lost power because they couldn't be recharged. This went on for 11 days! It was summer, so no pipes, but heavy rains flooded our basement. Our amazing neighbors came over, plugged in our generator, filled it with gas (several times), sucked all the water out of the basement with a sump pump and came back every single day to run the generator so our deep freezes wouldn't thaw out (we have two deep freezes full of meat and veggies). Thanks to them, everything was fine when we got home. We threw them a big party and bought them some pretty nice souvenirs.

I always stock up on water before a storm, but realistically, with the horses, we would only have enough for a couple of days. Still, I fill all of our jugs, containers, and the bathtub. That's normally enough to get us through until the power is restored. We do have the ability to get water from a couple of sources on the property in the summer, and we can melt snow in the winter (we have a wood stove with lots of surface for melting snow in big pots), but anyone who has ever melted snow quickly realizes just how much air there is in snow. You end up with very little water - but it's something.

Hoping this is over for you soon, and that lessons are learned by municipal and state leaders from this experience!

 

[AragoASB]

Cousin Tim called from Texas and said the grocery stores are sold out of food. He said I-20 is shut down east out of Dallas and all the truckers are parked at rest stops.