DURR it's cold outside there can't be no global warming or hurrrrr

[Michchamp]

I'm not trying to oversell what I went through or look for sympathy... but there was a point in time last week with the power out, water gushing through the ceiling, and the thermostat in the house reading 42F (and falling) that I realized I was having trouble thinking clearly, and - this was the worst part of that - had no hope for a break in the chaos to collect my thoughts and think carefully about what to do.

came kinda close to that during Harvey, around day 3 or 4 when there was a fear the levee might fill up when the pumps gave out, but the house was fine and the power was on.

I'm more wary of "taking my chances" going forward.

 

[byco42]

I'm not trying to oversell what I went through or look for sympathy... but there was a point in time last week with the power out, water gushing through the ceiling, and the thermostat in the house reading 42F (and falling) that I realized I was having trouble thinking clearly, and - this was the worst part of that - had no hope for a break in the chaos to collect my thoughts and think carefully about what to do.

came kinda close to that during Harvey, around day 3 or 4 when there was a fear the levee might fill up when the pumps gave out, but the house was fine and the power was on.

I'm more wary of "taking my chances" going forward.

MC ... we were concerned. I hope that?s ok.

 

[Spartanmack]

Even though we were not affected by this winter storm, we are making measures to prepare for when a disaster may hit. We get the remnants of the big hurricanes that hit the south coastal states, the longest power has been our here is 20 hours and there?s always the possibility of Armageddon.

we get a lot of wind and rain from Southern hurricanes too and we have hurricane risk ourselves (less than 30 miles inland from the eastern shores of Staten Island). This year, we've gotten a ton of snow but less than a week of sustained temps below freezing. we haven't lost power for more than a couple hours since Sandy in 2012.

We are having our furnace replaced today as another 5" of snow falls outside. Hopefully it's a smooth transition - we haven't done any disaster prepping but this was a Costco/BJs weekend for us so we should be fine plus we can go to the in-laws if we're without heat for a couple days.

 

[Gulo Blue]

I realized I was having trouble thinking clearly

This realization is terrifying when you have to keep going.

 

[Michchamp]

This realization is terrifying when you have to keep going.

Yeah. And when the disaster is widespread it's not easy to travel and get out of it.

For the first two days as well, roads were basically a sheet of ice, which made certain freeways unusable, even with caution... a couple times people had to leave their cars and walk down ramps because the ice made the steep grades (common here) impassable.

I DO think they over-estimate the danger on surface streets here... if you've driven in snow before, just take the same damn precautions and you'll be fine. The challenge is mapping a safe route over long distances.

In this last case, the disaster was basically Texas' power grid. we'd have to get away from ERCOT... basically we'd have to leave the state to find reliable power. Closest option is Louisiana, which is usually a mess of a place even when there isn't a natural disaster

 

[Spartanmack]

I'm not trying to oversell what I went through or look for sympathy... but there was a point in time last week with the power out, water gushing through the ceiling, and the thermostat in the house reading 42F (and falling) that I realized I was having trouble thinking clearly, and - this was the worst part of that - had no hope for a break in the chaos to collect my thoughts and think carefully about what to do.

came kinda close to that during Harvey, around day 3 or 4 when there was a fear the levee might fill up when the pumps gave out, but the house was fine and the power was on.

I'm more wary of "taking my chances" going forward.

for the record, I'm not discounting your experience or saying the generator is a bad idea for you. I answered your question based on my experience which is other than when Sandy was literally throwing trees around our house, losing power both times for roughly a week, was more of an inconvenience than anything life threatening. It sucked but I was more bummed for my kids that Halloween was cancelled two years in a row than I was about anything I had to endure. Other people had it way worse than we did.

 

[Michchamp]

Another precaution I plan to do:

laminated "to do" lists in a binder with the disaster supplies, to reduce the risk of making decisions under duress, or forgetting common sense.

For example, I knew about the trick of using a candle in a tin can to create a safe space heater (link). I completely forgot about it when the power went out we were freezing our asses off, and other people calling/texting, and trying to find local information on what to do. and I have plenty of candles and tin cans...

would've been better to just get out disaster prep notes for "power outage in cold" and get those done before dicking around with reading the news from the local authorities or calling the power company in winter

 

[Michchamp]

for the record, I'm not discounting your experience or saying the generator is a bad idea for you. I answered your question based on my experience which is other than when Sandy was literally throwing trees around our house, losing power both times for roughly a week, was more of an inconvenience than anything life threatening. It sucked but I was more bummed for my kids that Halloween was cancelled two years in a row than I was about anything I had to endure. Other people had it way worse than we did.

I get it, and I don't think you're doing that. I'm just saying this time I came closer to disaster than other times, and it's changed my calculus on this

"the worst that could happen is we're a little inconvenienced," is now in my mind "the worst that can happen is we die; the second worse thing is we lose our house & all our stuff and have to start over"

 

[Michchamp]

The Texas death toll from this cold snap is now up to 194 (link) and counting:

The 194 deaths identified by the Chronicle so far include at least 100 cases of hypothermia that killed people in their homes or while exposed to the elements, at least 16 carbon monoxide poisonings of residents who used dangerous methods for heat and at least 22 Texans who died when medical devices failed without power or who were unable to seek live-saving care because of the weather.

Sixteen deaths were from other causes, such as fires or vehicle wrecks, while the remaining 40 were attributed by authorities to the storm without listing a specific cause.
...

The toll is almost certain to grow in coming weeks as death investigators in the state?s most populous counties clear a backlog in cases from the cold snap. The Travis County medical examiner alone is investigating more than 80 deaths between Feb. 13 and Feb. 20.​

Maybe they're inflating those numbers to get that Winter Storm bonus money from the Feds

 

[tinselwolverine]

The Texas death toll from this cold snap is now up to 194 (link) and counting:

The 194 deaths identified by the Chronicle so far include at least 100 cases of hypothermia that killed people in their homes or while exposed to the elements, at least 16 carbon monoxide poisonings of residents who used dangerous methods for heat and at least 22 Texans who died when medical devices failed without power or who were unable to seek live-saving care because of the weather.

Sixteen deaths were from other causes, such as fires or vehicle wrecks, while the remaining 40 were attributed by authorities to the storm without listing a specific cause.
...

The toll is almost certain to grow in coming weeks as death investigators in the state?s most populous counties clear a backlog in cases from the cold snap. The Travis County medical examiner alone is investigating more than 80 deaths between Feb. 13 and Feb. 20.​

Maybe they're inflating those numbers to get that Winter Storm bonus money from the Feds

Probably.

That?s what I would be doing if I was in charge.

Look how well it worked out for the medical facilities regarding Covid.

 

[sggatecl]

Look how well it worked out for the medical facilities regarding Covid.

Wife is still waiting for that bonus to come through. Any day now.

 

[tomdalton22]

Wife is still waiting for that bonus to come through. Any day now.

I'm waiting for my bonus too.

I work for a small company. I estimate that the total annual salaries for all employees to be about $3M. The company got a $518K ppp "loan". Our company wasn't impacted by COVID other than having to purchase some hand sanitizer and face masks. My guess is my boss pocketed most of that money.

 

[Michchamp]

I'm waiting for my bonus too.

I work for a small company. I estimate that the total annual salaries for all employees to be about $3M. The company got a $518K ppp "loan". Our company wasn't impacted by COVID other than having to purchase some hand sanitizer and face masks. My guess is my boss pocketed most of that money.

He didn't reinvest it in creating jobs?!?! Maybe he needs a big tax break too.

Better keep throwing money at him

 

[sggatecl]

ERCOT Investigating Power Plant Breakdowns as Texas Faces Blackouts

 

[Michchamp]

ERCOT Investigating Power Plant Breakdowns as Texas Faces Blackouts

fun fact: the TX legislature passed a bunch of bullshit bills to address made up, nonexistent problems they're always screaming about on Fox News, like banning highschool transgender athletes, & making it even easier to carry a gun in public, but did absolutely nothing to address the power failures that killed ~300 people and cost billions in damages, and lost revenue.

You still can't find handgun ammunition anywhere around here, so I guess the thinking is we'll start pistol whipping our problems away.

 

[Spartanmack]

it's unreal that they didn't fix the grid in the last 4 months - 4 months! What were they doing all that time? Obviously, Texas is too busy worrying about silly stuff like women's rights and the second amendment. Nationalize the grid now!

Quick question, is Texas out of handgun ammo because of all the shootouts that never happen due to the increased private gun ownership?

 

[Michchamp]

there was another good meme using that star wars format, where the guy is "ERCOT" and he's saying "things failed because our systems weren't designed to work in the cold," and Natalie Portman's character is saying "They'll work in the heat though, right?" then repeating it more seriously.

That's a good meme. I don't know how to post it though because I don't have a linked image and don't feel like finding an image host, so I just described it to you.

 

[Michchamp]

...

Quick question, is Texas out of handgun ammo because of all the shootouts that never happen due to the increased private gun ownership?

No. there have been a lot of shootings here though.

 

[Spartanmack]

fun fact: the TX legislature passed a bunch of bullshit bills to address made up, nonexistent problems they're always screaming about on Fox News, like banning highschool transgender athletes, & making it even easier to carry a gun in public, but did absolutely nothing to address the power failures that killed ~300 people and cost billions in damages, and lost revenue.

You still can't find handgun ammunition anywhere around here, so I guess the thinking is we'll start pistol whipping our problems away.

fun fact: (which you apparently missed from sgg's linked article) "...last week Governor Greg Abbott signed sweeping energy legislation aimed at preventing another weather disaster. One requires electricity providers operating on the state's independent grid to weatherize their equipment for all seasons and improve communication during outages by creating an alert system." Somebody must have snuck it in between all the silly laws they preoccupied themselves with to protect women's rights and the second amendment and other nonsense. My guess is it was Bernie disguised as a cowboy.

 

[Michchamp]

fun fact: (which you apparently missed from sgg's linked article) "...last week Governor Greg Abbott signed sweeping energy legislation aimed at preventing another weather disaster. One requires electricity providers operating on the state's independent grid to weatherize their equipment for all seasons and improve communication during outages by creating an alert system." Somebody must have snuck it in between all the silly laws they preoccupied themselves with to protect women's rights and the second amendment and other nonsense. My guess is it was Bernie disguised as a cowboy.

"absolutely nothing" are maybe the wrong words. I've read criticism of the effort that it's a paper fix and nothing will actually change. they're not allocating money for inspections and penalties for non compliance. I guess those things are anathema to being "open for business"