THE WEEK TEXAS FROZE OVER

Recently I lived in Texas for about four years. As a preschooler, I had lived in Texas for a couple of years and my brother was born there. I love Texas. It is a beautiful state with lots of places to ramble around and enjoy nature. 

Everyone should visit Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose. I have an official dinosaur hunting license issued in July 1971.  I hope that one day I can see the Marfa Lights.

Both times that we lived in Texas we were in the Fort Worth area. I loved Fort Worth, except for the never-ending construction projects. Any type of food that I desired was available. There were a variety of fun activities and wonderful parks. Most importantly, I loved the libraries in the area. 

Today I'm going to talk about the ten days that Texas froze. This was in February 2021. A large part of the country was affected by three winter storms that came one after another. I'm a huge weather junkie, and I have a crush on my favorite DFW weather person, Evan Andrews. I usually give my family a weather report every morning. My DIL told all her friends that she didn't watch the weather, she knew I'd tell her what was happening weatherwise. “ At about 10 am we are going to get rain. But, it will only last 22.5 minutes.”

 The weather people realized we were going to get a massive, damaging storm system come through and people needed to prepare. There were going to be multiple days of subzero temperatures and a large ice storm. People needed to winterize homes and vehicles and stock up on firewood, food, and medical supplies. I told my family. They thought the storm was overblown and there wouldn’t be any problems.

The first storm came through and caused a lot of ice on the roads. There was a 133-vehicle pile-up on I 35. At least six people died and dozens were injured. This was the route that most people used to travel from Fort Worth to the Dallas area. My DIL  used this route every workday.  Anytime Evan mentioned ice I made sure to tell my son and DIL so they could take extra time and precautions during their commutes. Of course, they think I’m Chicken Little. “Oh. Lola is just being paranoid again.” I have to admit that I get obsessed with severe weather possibilities. LOL.

A few days later the next storm system moved in. Glorious, beautiful snow fell. It looked like a scene from a movie about snow on Christmas. The kids had a blast playing outside in the snow. So, did the adults. I stayed by the bedroom window watching the snowfall for several hours.

The main power supplier for the state warned people that usage was exceeding the supply. Rolling blackouts were planned to ease the burden on the system.  The snow began to turn to ice. Sub-zero temperatures continued. Rolling blackouts started. But, the power grid failed. Texas experienced the worst energy failure in the state's history. 4.5 million homes and businesses had no power. Some of our neighbors were without power for about 10 days. Our home had no electricity for about 40 hours. After the power came back on we had to boil our water.

During the outage, we had a small amount of firewood. Most of it was too big for our fireplace. My son tried to cut it up with an ax and the ax broke. My son and DIL tried in vain to find firewood. But, there was none to be found. As the temperature inside our home continued to drop my DIL called hotels within 100 miles of us. She was trying to find a warm place for us, most importantly the kids, to stay. In desperation, she began calling RV dealerships trying to rent an RV. No luck. The dealerships couldn’t let anything leave the lot because the lot and all the roads were covered in thick ice.

I followed the advice of the weather experts. I shut the curtains and blinds to keep the heat in, had every faucet in the house dripping, put layers of clothes on the kids and myself, and tried to limit the amount exterior doors that were opened.

But, we had visitors. And they were actively going behind me and undoing my efforts. They reopened the blinds, turned off faucets, and ran around the house wearing thin pajamas. They actively sabotaged my efforts to keep the house warm and pipes safe. We had a small fire going. I was trying to conserve the wood for the night. The visitors tried to build a roaring fire instead of putting on warm clothing. I realized the power might be out for several days and I was taking sensible precautions. 

The visitors also wanted to go out to eat. “Sandwiches!! Who wants to eat a sandwich?! I want to go to that restaurant we  talked about last night.” Which was 30 minutes away. There were at least 6 inches of ice covering all the roads for hundreds of miles. News stations and Emergency Management authorities were advising EVERYONE to stay home, stay off the roads, and find a way to stay warm. Within a few hours of the power going out, I was ready to beat the visitors with a large stick, or maybe a shovel. The feeling was mutual. 

Every few hours we piled into our vehicles and turned on the heat. When we went to bed that night we made sure the kids and pets were sleeping with at least one adult. Every blanket in the house was piled on the beds.

I truly did not know if we would wake up in the morning. Before my cell phone died I sent messages to my loved ones that lived out of the area. If I died I wanted to make sure they knew how much I loved them. I didn't say anything to alarm them. But, I made sure to message my other kids, my dad, and my brother. I kissed the two grandkids sleeping with me and told them I loved them. I spent the night listening to them breathe. Later estimates of the death toll from these storms range from 250 to over 700 people. Children died sleeping in their own beds. Car crashes, carbon monoxide poisoning, and house fires all contributed to the death toll.

At lunch, we loaded into the van. We had to find someplace to get warm for at least a little while. My son and DIL called all over DFW trying to find a restaurant that was open. We found a place and it took about an hour to get there. I'm very glad my DIL was driving and the van had a snow-driving setting. I’d trust my DIL to drive through the Apocalypse and its aftermath. Yes, she may scare me half to death. But, she’s going to get us there. The restaurant had a smattering of people in it. Two employees were handling everything. The smile and cheerfulness of our waitress were dearly needed. We didn’t mind the wait. It was warm and everyone was glad to get a hot meal. I was counting the seconds until sundown, and dreading it more than words can describe.

Our power came back on three to four hours after we got back home. The relief I felt was all-encompassing. I had been in excruciating emotional turmoil and finally, I had some relief. We had sub-freezing temperatures for a few more days. Our wonderful neighbors banded together. Many of the neighbors whose power was back on made huge pots of food. They offered a warm meal, a place to charge cell phones, and a chance to sit in warmth for our neighbors in need. 

It took about three days to clean and wash everything that needed it. But, we were lucky. As the pipes thawed, frozen pipes burst. Several of our neighbors had their entire 2nd-floor crash onto the 1st floor. A soggy, half-frozen mishmash of flooring, insulation, and whatever had been on the 2nd floor. It took several months for repairs to be made. There was so much damage down throughout the whole region that plumbers, contractors, and other repair people were booked for several months.

In the time since the power grid failure, the government and state officials of Texas have done little to actually fix the problems with the power grid. They knew of the issues for several years before the storms of February 2021. But, they have more important things to do. Stripping away voting rights, targeting women’s reproductive rights, and the rights of the LGBTQ community. And of course, ignoring school shootings.

I love Texas. I miss many things about Texas and we made so many good memories while we lived there.  But, I despise the state officials and bureaucrats that are in charge. This storm and the Covid pandemic were major factors in the decision our family made to get out of Texas and move closer to the rest of our family. 

We just need to find some good restaurants in South Carolina.