Growing up in the midwest, I’m used to cold weather and snowstorms. We relished sledding and snow days home from school, making snowmen and snow ice cream. Even as an adult, we worked at our desks through daytime blizzards, always managing the hazardous trek home over empty, closed highways.
I’ve lived in south Texas now for 30 years, but those distant memories came flooding back this week. Below are musings about the Great Texas Freeze in this, the 14th month of 2020.
It’s Always About the Little Things
Things like winterizing natural gas, coal and nuclear plant control panels, and burying gas lines deep enough to withstand frigid temperatures: these are critical to maintaining the power grid. Both Bloomberg and the Houston Chronicle report that, in addition to Winter Storm Uri sending blasts of extremely cold weather to deep south Texas, some instruments weren’t winterized to withstand this unprecedented onslaught, meaning they literally froze during this storm and became inoperable. Leaving energy sources inaccessible.
Didn’t anyone see the need to bury transmission lines just a tad deeper? Where they might be protected from extreme weather, something which, of course, they thought would never happen.
I Learned About Energy Management Systems
What’s an ERCOT, I would have asked a few days ago. Now I know it’s the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, and apparently this nonprofit makes important decisions about our power supply. They are good at tweeting status updates, but not so good at designing systems for extreme cold. For extreme heat, yes.
I also found out that while Texas is the energy capital of North America, it is not an island, and should find a way to play nice with its neighboring states to create an energy lifeline for all its residents.
In a particularly memorable quote from Ed Hirs, energy fellow in the Department of Economics at the University of Houston, he said this: “The ERCOT grid has collapsed in exactly the same manner as the old Soviet Union. It limped along on underinvestment and neglect until it finally broke under predictable circumstances.”
Twitter was Created for the Self-Own
Twitter users were lightening quick to point out self-owns by “red” politicians (note I didn’t call them ‘government officials’) who flailed the great “blue” state of California for their failed August power grid. Now that the great state of Texas has its own power grid issue, it’s worth asking if the red politicians should have been prescient, considering that power issues might happen to both red and blue states. They might also stay away from conducting government business via Twitter.
My main takeaway from these red and blue politicians is this thought starter from IDEOU: How Might We work together to share best practices and solve both summer and winter power grid issues? Finger pointing has gotten no one anywhere. This is an object lesson in how a divided nation can’t function correctly for its citizens. Do better, be better, red and blue politicians.
It’s Always About Essential Workers
From McDonalds, to hospitals, to our police force, these folks have to work even during a power crisis. They provide sustenance to those who haven’t experienced an extreme storm like Uri, help injured patients recover, perform welfare checks of the elderly, and clear traffic accidents. I was never more heartened than when I saw a Facebook post from our local police saying they “are here to help you and we will get through this together” and to call them! Other essential workers are found at CVS and Walgreens, especially when our grocery giant HEB is closed due to lost power.
It’s sobering to consider the impact of shutting down our VIA bus service. Of course, busses can’t navigate the slushy curbs of unplowed city streets — but the impact of losing bus service means essential workers in the medical center are often left without transportation. VIA did use their small transit busses to take people to the convention center, which is a warming space. It’s a nightmare for too many when public transportation shuts down.
Sometimes Apps are Not Synced With Current Conditions
How excited was I to book a room night at a downtown Marriott! Only to arrive, find cars parked haphazardly in the front drive, the building dark, the automatic doors jammed. These were the first clues that even though the Bonvoy app allowed me to book a room night (alerted me this morning that I was ready for checkout!) there were actually no rooms at the inn, since the hotel lost both power and water. Those cars we saw in the drive were actually leaving.
We thought our toursity Riverwalk downtown was on a protected power grid. We tried several other downtown and airport hotels, only to be turned away. Note it was nearly impossible to reach hotels by phone. Some were clever enough to actually post signs saying “no rooms” since many guests came a day before we even tried. At least it was a warm, invigorating two-hour car ride.
About the Car Ride; San Antonio has No Snow Plows
We failed to grasp the fact that a 15-minute highway drive downtown would turn into a 45-minute treacherous trek across access roads and side streets without functioning traffic lights because the power was out. And those lines at Whataburger, Wendy’s, and McDonald’s were ridiculous lane-blockers. Many thought their last meal should be a honey biscuit or Big Mac. But really, the grocery stores were closed due to power loss, so fast food restaurants were the next resort. There isn’t a nearby Waffle House, but I’m certain they were also open.
Camping Headlamps are Super Useful Indoors
While searching in our battery box, we found three old LED headlamps from a long ago nighttime run. Headlamps are extremely useful for navigating a dark house, and they are inexpensive, using only 3 AAA batteries. Headlamps should be recommended for every household emergency kit. Now you know!
Snow Can Be Cleared With a Mulch Shovel
We don’t have a snow shovel, and why would we need one? My enterprising hubbie found a mulch shovel that has a wide span, and so set about clearing our driveway of snow. It’s backbreaking work, he will tell you — the mulch shovel is at the wrong angle and requires many more swipes to clear the drive. But he got it done, and for that I’m grateful.
Facebook Serves an Important Place in Our Society
I’ve gotten to know so many of my neighbors during this storm via our private Facebook group. We are sharing power updates, outage maps, gas fireplace tips (we all have virtually the same mass-produced fireplace), open restaurants, and offers of food/water. Many neighbors are strangers to me, but I’ll know them once Winter Storm Uri has left. Our community is better for this social platform.
Stay warm and dry everyone. Forecasts call for a final gift of snow, possibly sleet, in the early hours.
