3 expected days of below-freezing temps wreaks havoc in Dallas!

hawkdon said:
I just hope texas does not steal our lectric power again, and then pass the costs back to us..... :mad:
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Texas has its' own electrical grid, which is why it became such an issue in 2021. We couldn't take power from another state if we wanted to.


  • Texas opted for its own power grid at the turn of the 20th to the 21st century.
  • Natural gas and wind generate most of Texas’s electricity and its infrastructure wasn’t winterized against freezing temperatures, leading to the 2021 winter blackout.
  • The state has made progress toward winterizing and updating the grid, but energy demands are rising fast and vulnerabilities still exist.
 
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So, we had rain all day and the high was 45. Everyone was out on the road making last-minute preparations. We aren't expected to start getting sleet until early next morning and the temps will be below freezing until Tuesday. Hubs works for UT Southwestern catering to the university and most schools have already announced they will be closing on Monday, so it looks like if nothing else he will have a 3-day weekend.

We have a neighbor who has an immune disorder so she and her husband have a huge generator. In the past, they've offered us the opportunity to store our refrigerated foods. I've done so much stocking up on food, if we lose power I will probably take them up on it.

The last time we lost power, probably 9 years ago, our house was down to 56 degrees so we crawled through the ice in our RWD car and stayed in a local motel. Now we have AWD vehicles, so if we lose power we will surely do the same.
 

seadoug said:
So, we had rain all day and the high was 45. Everyone was out on the road making last-minute preparations. We aren't expected to start getting sleet until early next morning and the temps will be below freezing until Tuesday. Hubs works for UT Southwestern catering to the university and most schools have already announced they will be closing on Monday, so it looks like if nothing else he will have a 3-day weekend.

We have a neighbor who has an immune disorder so she and her husband have a huge generator. In the past, they've offered us the opportunity to store our refrigerated foods. I've done so much stocking up on food, if we lose power I will probably take them up on it.

The last time we lost power, probably 9 years ago, our house was down to 56 degrees so we crawled through the ice in our RWD car and stayed in a local motel. Now we have AWD vehicles, so if we lose power we will surely do the same.
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I am just going to put stuff in a cooler and put it on the patio if needed. We are going to be cold enough to keep it outside if necessary. I have told the kids if they lose power not to try to get here. Go right then to the nearest hotel and I will cover the cost.

I have a gas fireplace to keep warm, they do not. They came here in the 2021 storm when they lost power. I did not lose mine then, but I don't want them to drive it this time.
 
I'm in the mid-Atlantic, and we're also about to get pounded. Temperatures are plunging into the single digits, and we're expecting a lot of sNOw. I'm ready to hunker down, well stocked with food and wood. Unfortunately, I do not have a generator in case we lose power, but I do have a propane range, battery-powered lights and candles, heavy blankets, and a fireplace. It'd be lovely to have a couple of fluffy dogs to cuddle with.

All of you, please take care and stay warm. We will all make it through this, as we always do. 🤗
 
seadoug said:
LOL, we know we are getting sleet and ice on Saturday morning and will stay in freezing temps through Monday. You would think The Apocalypse is coming. Yes, I've stocked on the food we will need to get us through this, but the grocery stores have been packed with people stocking up on, you guessed it... toilet paper! I went to buy toilet bowl cleaner today and all but two bottles of the store brand were gone!:oops: Really? Toilet bowl cleaner?

Of course, the news has been playing this up, but the behavior is so over-exaggerated it reminds me of the pandemic! You think people are overreacting?
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You don't need to clean your toilet bowl when the Apocalypse comes. 😀
 
seadoug said:
LOL, we know we are getting sleet and ice on Saturday morning and will stay in freezing temps through Monday. You would think The Apocalypse is coming. Yes, I've stocked on the food we will need to get us through this, but the grocery stores have been packed with people stocking up on, you guessed it... toilet paper! I went to buy toilet bowl cleaner today and all but two bottles of the store brand were gone!:oops: Really? Toilet bowl cleaner?
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Here in Sacramento, during the currently unmentionable pandemic of '20-'21, after the local super-stores ran out of toilet paper, all the washcloths and hand-towels disappeared. I got into a habit of checking the fabrics department every time I went in, keeping an eye on the bolts of linen and muslin.
seadoug said:
Of course, the news has been playing this up, but the behavior is so over-exaggerated it reminds me of the pandemic! You think people are overreacting?
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I think all the grocery stores can count on it.
 
I did start a fire before I went to bed, but I've been up most of the night, because I slept hard and long the night before and part of yesterday. I was recovering from something awful, the flu maybe. Anyway, I've been keeping an eye on the temperature outside. It's dipped, but hasn't gotten down to where it is supposed to be. It would be nice if this miscalculation by the weatherman would last through the week, and this whole thing turned out be a dud of a winter storm, but Sunday is where we are supposed to get icey rain... 24 hours of the stuff with a possible half inch of ice. If that's only half true, it's going to be ugly.
 
BJintheUK said:
For those who worry about TP, get a bidet attachment for your toilet. They cost from around £20 in the UK, and we've had one for many years now. In fact we're on our third one, and they save an enormous amount on TP. Here's a photo of the one we currently have installed. It's cold water feed only, so you might prefer the type we used to have, which is shown in the lower photo.

View attachment 481833

And here's a photo of the one it replaced when we had our bathroom refurbished. If you look closely you can see that it had both hot and cold water feeds, so you could adjust the temperature of the water jet.

View attachment 481834

And here's a photo of the kit the one above came as. This kit cost around £35 from Ebay at the time, and they cost less than that today.

View attachment 481835

I can't recommend these things highly enough. They are especially useful for those of us who are getting older, and find that reaching round is less simple than it used to be.
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But they won't work if the pipes freeze, will they?
 
Update from Dallas. "Snowmaggedon" is here. :ROFLMAO: It was supposed to start today. We got what I'd call a "dusting" last night. There were people out driving today.

We got maybe an inch more today and we are expecting more tonight. It has been sleet so the roads are now pretty much impassable. Dry skies are expected tomorrow but temps won't go above freezing. If I see people out driving again on Monday I will be right there with them. I'll wait until the big trucks create paths in the snow.
 
RambleTamble said:
Over 50,000 residents are currently without power in Texas due to downed powerlines from the weight of ice and trees falling on them from the weight of the ice.
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That's actually not bad in a state with over 30 million people, but it sucks that anyone is losing power. 10 million people lost power in Texas during the freeze of 2021.
 
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