Anyone else live in central/southern Texas and is experiencing power outages due to the unusual snow?

[sleepydreepy]

Where I live it never, ever snows and rarely gets below 40-50 degrees in the winter, but yesterday I woke up to ankle deep snow. It was fun at first until our water pipes froze and now we have no running water. On top of that a lot of people in my city are experiencing power outages. To make matters even worse, we might be getting more snow on Wednesday! Is anyone on here from Texas too? My sister and I (both adults) currently live with our parents due to COVID and we have 3 dogs, so we are getting concerned about our lack of water.

update on my situation- we got water back this morning but are now required to boil the water before drinking it

 

[Sharksheep]

Sorry that you are experiencing terrible weather down there. If possible, you should try to run to the grocery store or a Walmart/Target to get a couple cases of bottled water. We always have a case for emergencies like this.

As for the frozen pipes, you should call a plumber and see what advice they might have. Unfortunately the damage is already done and you'll want them to assess the damage as soon as possible. I would move anything that is near exposed pipes away in case they burst and know where the extra towels are.

If the temperature are cold enough where we are worry about frozen pipes we keep our thermostat higher at night instead of lowering it to keep the house warm and the faucets running so it doesn't freeze. Please don't leave the oven on to warm up the house. Paying for the water is a lot cheaper than fixing pipes. If you can get water I suggest boiling every now and then to drink hot water or make tea/coffee, just having some humidity in your house makes it warmer.

 

[Midoriya]

I live in Texas, but am not experiencing a power outage... yet. Not sure if it has to do with the location of Texas I live in, but haven’t had to deal with it. Frozen pipes on the other hand may still be a problem...

 

[sleepydreepy]

Sorry that you are experiencing terrible weather down there. If possible, you should try to run to the grocery store or a Walmart/Target to get a couple cases of bottled water. We always have a case for emergencies like this.

As for the frozen pipes, you should call a plumber and see what advice they might have. Unfortunately the damage is already done and you'll want them to assess the damage as soon as possible. I would move anything that is near exposed pipes away in case they burst and know where the extra towels are.

If the temperature are cold enough where we are worry about frozen pipes we keep our thermostat higher at night instead of lowering it to keep the house warm and the faucets running so it doesn't freeze. Please don't leave the oven on to warm up the house. Paying for the water is a lot cheaper than fixing pipes. If you can get water I suggest boiling every now and then to drink hot water or make tea/coffee, just having some humidity in your house makes it warmer.

thanks for the advice! my dad tried going to several stores near us and managed to get a few packs of water before they ran out. unfortunately we didn't know about running our faucets overnight and today no water at all came out, so I think like you said the damage has already been done. we are hoping tomorrow our pipes will maybe unfreeze on their own since it will be sunny, though I think the high is still under freezing, so we'll probably have to call a plumber

 

[Sharksheep]

thanks for the advice! my dad tried going to several stores near us and managed to get a few packs of water before they ran out. unfortunately we didn't know about running our faucets overnight and today no water at all came out, so I think like you said the damage has already been done. we are hoping tomorrow our pipes will maybe unfreeze on their own since it will be sunny, though I think the high is still under freezing, so we'll probably have to call a plumber

Raising the temperature of your house would help with the thawing. I read that opening your cabinets if you know that your pipes are behind them would help too so they'll be exposed to the warmth of the house. Be sure to turn on the faucets even if the pipes are frozen in case they thaw out. I would also double check that the adults in your household know how to turn off the different valves in case a pipe does burst.

 

[sleepydreepy]

Raising the temperature of your house would help with the thawing. I read that opening your cabinets if you know that your pipes are behind them would help too so they'll be exposed to the warmth of the house. Be sure to turn on the faucets even if the pipes are frozen in case they thaw out. I would also double check that the adults in your household know how to turn off the different valves in case a pipe does burst.

yeah so we just found out the main water pipe in our county is the one that is frozen/doesn't work. I guess we just aren't use to getting snow down here. the weather forecast is now saying there will be more snow tomorrow and Thursday, but by the weekend it should start warming up again, so thats good.

 

[jefflomacy]

Make sure to do a pass around the house and check for any open faucets so that you won't have an unhappy situation when the main de-thaws. When it's getting below freezing, when I lived in the south, I made sure to leave all the pipes on drip so that there was always a little movement. This always prevented freezing for me. But, if the main is frozen, this won't do you much good. And if there's no water flow, your pipes are probably empty, so there's nothing to freeze on your end.

 

[LuchaSloth]

I live in New Jersey. But, I've been hearing about how much of a mess Texas is. Really annoying that so many politicians seem to be politicizing the weather instead of helping people. Some of them are using this as an opportunity to attack green energy by suggesting that the windmills are frozen and not working...omitting the fact that apparently something like 88% of Texas energy comes from fossil fuels. Smh. Feel bad for the people dealing with such shenanigans. Hope your doggos get some water.

 

[tumut]

Texas definitely doesn't have the infrastructure to deal with the snow

Also doesn't help that they're literally the only state that has their own exclusive power grid

I live in the Northeast/Mid-atlantic so nothing has been too unusual other than a little more snow than usual

 

[sleepydreepy]

thanks for your messages guys. we were able to get enough water to last a few days, just hoping things thaw out over the weekend now. so far we still have power, I can't imagine how thousands of others in our city are coping with no power in this weather tho

 

[justina]

I've read a lot of horror stories about people not having water and houses being at 40 degrees. I feel so awful for everyone having to deal with this sending prayers and good thoughts your way! From what I've read it sounds like a National Guard situation to me..

 

[tessa grace]

Actually I'm over here in Utah, but our water at school just like broke. We haven't had a lot of snow (surprisingly) until now, but its only just a little lake effect. Hope things get better in texas!

 

[Shawna]

I live in West Texas. My dad said the majority of people in our town are experiencing power outages, but we are one of the lucky few who aren't. However, my dad has been getting a lot of notifications to conserve power.

It snowed last Sunday. Valentine's Day. I was happy to experience a white Valentine's Day, but now I just want the snow to melt away. Snow can be a very exciting thing for me, as I don't get to see it very often, but I don't like the below-freezing temperatures to stay, otherwise we end up snowed in and stressed out like we are right now.

I was actually supposed to have a dentist appointment tomorrow, but it got cancelled. We are actually expecting more snow tomorrow.

My dad was actually planning to invite some a few people to stay at our house, which would have sucked. :/ When you have company over, you have to behave, dress, act a certain way, so I am glad it didn't and hasn't come to that.

I just hope things don't get worse. I am at least grateful that me, my dad, and my brother are one of the few lucky households to still have power and Internet, but I don't want company over due to it, and I sure as hell don't want to lose power. Thankfully though, the temperatures should get above freezing on Friday and hopefully the snow will melt away.

 

[xhyloh]

yup and it's infuriating! my boyfriend's been struggling more with the power than i have been, but it's still so annoying to be the only state in the country that was willingly unprepared for this kind of thing

 

[Nooblord]

I moved to San Antonio back in October. Not a good first impression of winter in Texas, lol. Luckily still have power but internet hasn’t worked for a few days, water wasn’t running for a couple days as well, but it’s back now.

On a positive note, I can finally stop saying I haven’t seen snow in forever. And my job is paying us for the full week, even though I’ve only worked 3 hours, due to the situation.

To those saying Texas should’ve been prepared, that’s like saying Florida should be prepared for winter snow storms. This is unusual weather.

 

[jadetine]

It has been rough for us; well, my kids don't really know life outside of the pandemic, so they are chugging along, but the lack of water is at the forefront of my concerns. We have alternative sources of heat and light, but no real chance of getting more water. While shoveling the driveway yesterday, I saw an SUV skid down my street. Still a NOPE on driving.
I feel bad for the hospitals the most. My friend was due to deliver her baby last week, and I don't know her status or if she is having to recover in this shortage.
I am thankful to have heat; I can't say my neighbors have been as lucky.

 

[sleepydreepy]

It has been rough for us; well, my kids don't really know life outside of the pandemic, so they are chugging along, but the lack of water is at the forefront of my concerns. We have alternative sources of heat and light, but no real chance of getting more water. While shoveling the driveway yesterday, I saw an SUV skid down my street. Still a NOPE on driving.
I feel bad for the hospitals the most. My friend was due to deliver her baby last week, and I don't know her status or if she is having to recover in this shortage.
I am thankful to have heat; I can't say my neighbors have been as lucky.

oh gosh that sounds awful My house thankfully got water back early this morning, but we are required to boil it before drinking or using it for cooking. If there is still snow on the ground, you can try collecting it in buckets and/or put it in your bathtub to then boil and drink as needed. Sending you and your family good vibes- hopefully you get water back soon!