BREAKING NEWS!
The result of a federal study funded by your tax dollars was just released giving us remarkable new information about the root causes of the deadly winter storm that plunged temperatures in Texas to near zero leaving millions without power for an extended period and resulting in the deaths of hundreds of Texans. Today, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission presented the results of its research. The startling finding was that...
The biggest cause of our power outages during the deep freeze was cold temperatures, to which 44% of all problems were attributed. Coming in second place among causative factors and accounting for a further 31% of the outages was natural gas shortage problems.
I mean...mind blown, am I right! Who'd ever have thought?!
https://abc13.com/experts-determine-wha ... /11041471/
https://www.ferc.gov/media/february-202 ... tions-full
Search found 3 matches
Return to “Stay Warm and Safe the Next Few Days”
- Thu Sep 23, 2021 5:01 pm
- Forum: Off-Topic
- Topic: Stay Warm and Safe the Next Few Days
- Replies: 166
- Views: 31014
- Sat Feb 20, 2021 3:39 pm
- Forum: Off-Topic
- Topic: Stay Warm and Safe the Next Few Days
- Replies: 166
- Views: 31014
Re: Stay Warm and Safe the Next Few Days
Well, this'll teach me to open a topic about upcoming bad weather. I think I jinxed myself. 
We lost power at 02:05 Monday and were without for almost 76 hours straight. Gas fireplace was the only source of heat. Thermometer said we hit 32 inside the house for a few hours. Lost water about 05:00 Wednesday and thought the main supply line had frozen because we lost water to all faucets at the same time. Went out into the 9-degree tundra and shut-off the valve at the meter. Turned out the MUD had turned off the water intentionally due to very low pressure and so they could switch over to a single operating plant from two. Water was off for about 90 minutes. And how did the MUD notify us of this? They posted it on their website instead of emailing or alert-texting customers. Neighbor across the street who had internet from a satellite provider told us about the water on Friday morning. Turned the supply line back on and, sure enough, after the typical spitting and hissing, stuff started flowing. At least we had no pipe bursts. AT&T got our internet service back up about noon today, Saturday.
We were very lucky. Other than one large pine tree limb that gave up the ghost under the weight of some ice (didn't fall on the house or hit any cars, and frankly wasn't looking too healthy to begin with) it doesn't seem--so far--like we sustained any physical damage. But in terms of power and plumbing, this was worse than either Hurricane Ike or Hurricane Harvey.
We lost power at 02:05 Monday and were without for almost 76 hours straight. Gas fireplace was the only source of heat. Thermometer said we hit 32 inside the house for a few hours. Lost water about 05:00 Wednesday and thought the main supply line had frozen because we lost water to all faucets at the same time. Went out into the 9-degree tundra and shut-off the valve at the meter. Turned out the MUD had turned off the water intentionally due to very low pressure and so they could switch over to a single operating plant from two. Water was off for about 90 minutes. And how did the MUD notify us of this? They posted it on their website instead of emailing or alert-texting customers. Neighbor across the street who had internet from a satellite provider told us about the water on Friday morning. Turned the supply line back on and, sure enough, after the typical spitting and hissing, stuff started flowing. At least we had no pipe bursts. AT&T got our internet service back up about noon today, Saturday.
We were very lucky. Other than one large pine tree limb that gave up the ghost under the weight of some ice (didn't fall on the house or hit any cars, and frankly wasn't looking too healthy to begin with) it doesn't seem--so far--like we sustained any physical damage. But in terms of power and plumbing, this was worse than either Hurricane Ike or Hurricane Harvey.
- Sat Feb 13, 2021 2:37 pm
- Forum: Off-Topic
- Topic: Stay Warm and Safe the Next Few Days
- Replies: 166
- Views: 31014
Stay Warm and Safe the Next Few Days
This is a record-breaking cold snap and winter storm. Some cities in the plains beat their coldest record highs by over 12 degrees today.
For many parts of Texas, houses just aren't constructed with these kinds of conditions in mind. The big problem is that it isn't just a dip into bitter cold for a brief period, which is what we usually see in the lower half of Texas, but that it will be accompanied by significant precipitation and be a prolonged freeze. The Houston forecast, for example, has the rain starting early Sunday evening, and then the temperature hitting freezing by 7:00 p.m. We don't see temps above freezing until Wednesday for a few hours, and then we're back under all day Thursday until around noon on Friday. We'll be in hard freeze territory from about 2:00 Monday straight through until early Wednesday. The areas just north or west of Houston are expecting single-digit temps on Tuesday.
I talked about it with a buddy in Upstate New York yesterday, and he laughed that there they just called it "Tuesday." It's hard to explain that our neck of the woods is no more built or prepared for an event like this than his is for a Category 5 tropical hurricane. All their piping is independently insulated; they don't have near the number of elevated roadways that we do; they're equipped to treat and plow roadways; their heat is most commonly heating oil or natural gas. Ours is mostly electricity, and widespread power outages are predicted because the demand on ERCOT is going to be crazy...plus ice pulling down power lines. And there are a lot of older homes that don't have central heating that can be relied on to keep interior walls warm and, hopefully, pipes in the walls from freezing.
Take precautions. Be prepared. I'd even recommend, if you think your house might be vulnerable, filling a bathtub and storing potable water good for a couple of days, just as if you were preparing for a hurricane. Busted pipes could force you to turn off your water supply at the meter, and it might be days before you can get it fixed. I guarantee we're going to have some busy plumbers.
Stay off the roads if you possibly can. We saw the disaster yesterday in Ft. Worth. We have freeway flyovers in Houston that are over 120 feet high...and I guarantee we'll see people driving on them. If you have neighbors you think might be vulnerable, give 'em a call or pay 'em a visit; see if you can help.
For many parts of Texas, houses just aren't constructed with these kinds of conditions in mind. The big problem is that it isn't just a dip into bitter cold for a brief period, which is what we usually see in the lower half of Texas, but that it will be accompanied by significant precipitation and be a prolonged freeze. The Houston forecast, for example, has the rain starting early Sunday evening, and then the temperature hitting freezing by 7:00 p.m. We don't see temps above freezing until Wednesday for a few hours, and then we're back under all day Thursday until around noon on Friday. We'll be in hard freeze territory from about 2:00 Monday straight through until early Wednesday. The areas just north or west of Houston are expecting single-digit temps on Tuesday.
I talked about it with a buddy in Upstate New York yesterday, and he laughed that there they just called it "Tuesday." It's hard to explain that our neck of the woods is no more built or prepared for an event like this than his is for a Category 5 tropical hurricane. All their piping is independently insulated; they don't have near the number of elevated roadways that we do; they're equipped to treat and plow roadways; their heat is most commonly heating oil or natural gas. Ours is mostly electricity, and widespread power outages are predicted because the demand on ERCOT is going to be crazy...plus ice pulling down power lines. And there are a lot of older homes that don't have central heating that can be relied on to keep interior walls warm and, hopefully, pipes in the walls from freezing.
Take precautions. Be prepared. I'd even recommend, if you think your house might be vulnerable, filling a bathtub and storing potable water good for a couple of days, just as if you were preparing for a hurricane. Busted pipes could force you to turn off your water supply at the meter, and it might be days before you can get it fixed. I guarantee we're going to have some busy plumbers.
Stay off the roads if you possibly can. We saw the disaster yesterday in Ft. Worth. We have freeway flyovers in Houston that are over 120 feet high...and I guarantee we'll see people driving on them. If you have neighbors you think might be vulnerable, give 'em a call or pay 'em a visit; see if you can help.