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All right, friends, this thread is meant to do a few things, but the general gist will be about the current storm and power situation in Texas. If you are fucking tired of reading about this, now is the time to mute this thread.
You've been warned.
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You've been warned.
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First of all, my background and why I feel particularly qualified to talk about what's happening in Texas -- and the way *some* people outside of Texas have responded to it.
We've had plenty of shaming and counter-shaming and LOADS of excellent threads about that.
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We've had plenty of shaming and counter-shaming and LOADS of excellent threads about that.
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I was born in Georgia and lived there until middle school. I grew up with ice storms, small snowfalls (like, 2"/year) and the occasional blizzard (every 3-5 years). Snow was mostly fun and would melt the next day.
Ice storms were DEADLY serious and not to be screwed with.
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Ice storms were DEADLY serious and not to be screwed with.
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When I was 11, we moved to... Connecticut. We lived there from 1993-'96; two of our three winters there were two of the worst on-record in New England. We lived 1/4-mile from the coast and got more than 100 inches of snow.
I have walked on *frozen saltwater.*
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I have walked on *frozen saltwater.*
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We then moved to England, then on to Texas (Houston), where I graduated from HS. We'd occasionally get graupel or a dusting of snow, but that was extremely rare.
I went to university in South Carolina. We had some absolutely WICKED ice storms there. Power went out for days.
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I went to university in South Carolina. We had some absolutely WICKED ice storms there. Power went out for days.
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I still remember the power being out for a WEEK right before finals and everyone in my building slept in the common room together to try to conserve heat. It was a hell of a bonding experience.
At that point, I'd already camped in -20F weather, so I knew what to do.
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At that point, I'd already camped in -20F weather, so I knew what to do.
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I then went on to live in other, more temperate places (what up, L.A.?) before ending up in Boston. I lived there for five years and lived through what was, at the time, the snowiest February on record. I also worked a service job that required that I *drive in* every day.
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So I was out in the cold, digging out my car for several hours from under 17" of snow every three days so I could drive across town and get $4 in tips because NO ONE WAS GOING OUT but our manager insisted we open the restaurant anyway.
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Anyway, I went to law school and then moved to DC for a year before going back to Texas in 2015. My folks have lived in Texas since 1998 and have lived in the Hill Country since 2009.
My folks are survivalists (not preppers, but definitely survivalists) and it's STILL BAD.
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My folks are survivalists (not preppers, but definitely survivalists) and it's STILL BAD.
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IN ADDITION to having lived and driven in most of these places... my dad worked in oil/energy his entire career. I am intimately familiar with Texas energy laws and the way shit plays out across the state. I also know how much of a stranglehold it has on EVERYTHING.
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Okay so. ALL OF THAT SAID...
TEXAS DID NOT JUST GET SNOW.
TEXAS GOT A HALF-INCH OF ICE (OR MORE) AND *THEN* GOT SNOW ON TOP OF THAT.
Any southerner who grew up in ice storm territory can tell you that is, by FAR, the most dangerous type of frozen weather.
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TEXAS DID NOT JUST GET SNOW.
TEXAS GOT A HALF-INCH OF ICE (OR MORE) AND *THEN* GOT SNOW ON TOP OF THAT.
Any southerner who grew up in ice storm territory can tell you that is, by FAR, the most dangerous type of frozen weather.
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The only time I've EVER been *knocked out* was NOT my car wreck, but falling ice conking me when I was 10. It had built up during an ice storm on the overhead power lines and then thawed and fell. It was a section about two feet long and weighed a LOT.
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ICE IS HEAVY. It fucks up power lines (SO MUCH WEIGHT), trees (SNAPPING TIME), and can do all sorts of structural damage to a building. (The gutter folks are gonna make a KILLING this spring.)
But the snow on top off the ice is what's really doing it.
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But the snow on top off the ice is what's really doing it.
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SNOW CREATES AN INSULATING LAYER. The first and most obvious problem is that it makes something LOOK safe to walk on -- and then someone steps through to find they're walking on ice and slipping before they know it.
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But the real problem is that the sun cannot melt ice protected by the snow.
Even if there's a *little* melting, it'll run to the ice first and re-freeze there... making the ice that much thicker.
It's *still cold* in Texas. They're gonna get MORE SNOW this week.
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Even if there's a *little* melting, it'll run to the ice first and re-freeze there... making the ice that much thicker.
It's *still cold* in Texas. They're gonna get MORE SNOW this week.
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Snow on the ground? Is gonna melt down and then refreeze *underneath* the existing snow. And then there will be more layers of snow on top of that.
I saw this ALL THE TIME in Connecticut. By the end of winter, you'd have this really dry, crumbly snow between ice layers.
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I saw this ALL THE TIME in Connecticut. By the end of winter, you'd have this really dry, crumbly snow between ice layers.
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Imagine you have an electrical infrastructure that's built to handle 120ºF temps. Sure, it gets below freezing across the state, but not SUPER-cold. And not the whole state at once! So there's no real need to plan for that; you just need to be able to move energy around.
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Oh, and because the oil (sorry, "energy") companies have a chokehold on the state government, you deliberately cut your state's energy grid off from the rest of the country so you don't have to face federal regulation.
I mean, it's a state the size of France. NBD, right?
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I mean, it's a state the size of France. NBD, right?
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Oh, and because it's rarely super-cold everywhere, most lines (if buried at all) are not buried very deeply. Plumbing, power lines, etc. are ALL basically dropped in a minimum distance. There's more concern about rodents chewing the wires than about freezing.
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Also, in much of the state, it's HARD to dig deep. I don't know anyone south of the Red River who has a basement.
Why is this? Because the frost line — the depth below the ground where the soil does not freeze in the winter — is much shallower in Texas than elsewhere.
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Why is this? Because the frost line — the depth below the ground where the soil does not freeze in the winter — is much shallower in Texas than elsewhere.
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But let me tell you, even those of us who know HOW to prep for an ice or snowstorm in Texas... really can't do much.
You want salt to melt ice? Gotta buy some water softener salt, I guess. They come in spider egg-like pellets.
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You want salt to melt ice? Gotta buy some water softener salt, I guess. They come in spider egg-like pellets.
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You then gotta crush them up to make'em finer and spread'em.
It's... a LOT of work. And 99% of the time, there's no real point. Just wait an extra day or two and everything will melt.
Even sand is hard to come by.
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It's... a LOT of work. And 99% of the time, there's no real point. Just wait an extra day or two and everything will melt.
Even sand is hard to come by.
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I want to illustrate something about Texans and empathy in nasty weather situations.
A few years ago, I was attending Pennsic, a HUGE (12k+ attendees!) two-week-long outdoor medieval camping event in western PA. There are classes and parties and battles.
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A few years ago, I was attending Pennsic, a HUGE (12k+ attendees!) two-week-long outdoor medieval camping event in western PA. There are classes and parties and battles.
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It was a pretty warm Pennsic. They ended up calling off a couple of battles due to "excessive heat." It was 80ºF.
In our Kingdom's encampment, comprised of folks from OK and TX, we ABSOLUTELY took the piss out of everyone for calling on account of "excessive heat."
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In our Kingdom's encampment, comprised of folks from OK and TX, we ABSOLUTELY took the piss out of everyone for calling on account of "excessive heat."
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I mean, if we didn't fight when it was over 80ºF out, we wouldn't fight for 11 months out of the year! So we had a GREAT time ragging on everyone else.
We did this while sitting on a circle, with hand fans, with our feet in a kiddie swimming pool full of cooler water runoff
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We did this while sitting on a circle, with hand fans, with our feet in a kiddie swimming pool full of cooler water runoff
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We had linen towels draped over our heads and everyone had a mug or tankard of cold water (or sekanjabin or gatorade!) in-hand while we did this.
We also invited everyone who walked past and looked overheated to join us.
We taught them HOW to stay cool.
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We also invited everyone who walked past and looked overheated to join us.
We taught them HOW to stay cool.
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We may have teased, but we ALL also understood exactly how dangerous excessive heat can be.
Only a year earlier, we'd had our crown tournament in 111ºF weather and SO many people left early (myself included) due to heat-related illnesses. And we did everything right.
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Only a year earlier, we'd had our crown tournament in 111ºF weather and SO many people left early (myself included) due to heat-related illnesses. And we did everything right.
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So, we know. WE KNOW how easy it is for things to go poorly in the heat. So, while we teased, we also tried to help.
This is NOT a small battlefield in Pennsylvania.
Texas is a state that has thoroughly fucked over its entire population, but especially the most vulnerable.
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This is NOT a small battlefield in Pennsylvania.
Texas is a state that has thoroughly fucked over its entire population, but especially the most vulnerable.
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My reenactment friends have been putting out all sorts of really helpful, good information on their FBs. Some has been shared over to NextDoor. They're making sure their neighbors, friends, and family can stay safe.
And people have already died.
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And people have already died.
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Anyway, this thread has gotten rambly and probably too long, but I really, really need folks to understand that... Texans are just trying to survive living in Texas. Honestly. Most folks are barely keeping their heads above water due to structural inequality.
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And if you think that, somehow, anyone "deserves" to freeze to death because they live in a state like TX... you have less empathy than most Texans. Might be time to examine why you think someone's location means they deserve death.
I hope you all stay warm & stay safe.
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I hope you all stay warm & stay safe.
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I should know better than to tweet a final number set.
I just wanted to add that Texas houses are DESIGNED to lose heat. High ceilings, lots of venting, ANYTHING to get heat out... because that's what they need 95% of the time.
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I just wanted to add that Texas houses are DESIGNED to lose heat. High ceilings, lots of venting, ANYTHING to get heat out... because that's what they need 95% of the time.
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So now, folks are trying desperately to stay warm in homes that are working against them via passive heat loss.
AND water is RUNNING OUT (or, freezing in pipes!) and UNSAFE around Austin.
@randomjhovall posted this on FB:
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AND water is RUNNING OUT (or, freezing in pipes!) and UNSAFE around Austin.
@randomjhovall posted this on FB:
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I have multiple friends around the state with reptiles who are trying to find homes with power that can take *their pets* (not them, because pandemic! bubbles!) and keep them safe. Thankfully, other friends are stepping up to help.
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