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There are 5x more people without power in Texas than there are in every other state put together. (You can flip to another view on https://poweroutage.us/ which confirms this, since this image only shows the top outage areas.)
We're not the only state--or even Southern state--facing this record cold. If you look at even our state-wide map, it's pretty clear the problem isn't even actually "Texas". It's ERCOT. https://twitter.com/RomancingNope/status/1362122746650447873
It's not just the power that this bullshit is effecting either. It's having a cascading effect. https://twitter.com/RomancingNope/status/1362146578417524742
The response, too, has been basically non-existent. Your power is out and your domicile is freezing? Maybe you can go to a warming center, if you can reach it...but the roads are impassable. You have no water, or can't boil snow? Find bottled water, even though you can't drive...
...nothing is open, and what little is open, the water is all completely sold out.
There is no effort to ensure there are enough warming centers for everyone without power or transporting people to them. No delivery of water or food for people who don't have it.
There is no effort to ensure there are enough warming centers for everyone without power or transporting people to them. No delivery of water or food for people who don't have it.
This isn't new, of course. Texas is always like this. But the scope of these failures is shocking. ERCOT covers 200,000 square miles and 12 million people.
People-wise, that's the equivalent of the 12 smallest states. Area-wise, that's the equivalent of the 14 smallest states.
People-wise, that's the equivalent of the 12 smallest states. Area-wise, that's the equivalent of the 14 smallest states.
Imagine if every single person living in 12 states was at risk of losing their entire power grid, natural gas, and water access, all because deregulation and government/private industry deliberately chose not to be prepared for an event like this, because it would cost money.
Imagine if all this happened at the same time roads were completely impassable in an overlapping 14-state area.
That's how massive Texas' failures are in this disaster. It's absolutely mind boggling, and it's completely unique to us.
That's how massive Texas' failures are in this disaster. It's absolutely mind boggling, and it's completely unique to us.
This disaster demonstrates how badly federal oversight is needed in Texas, how desperately we need to be reconnected to the rest of the country's grid systems, and how profoundly corrupt and incompetent Texas Republicans are.
5 of the largest 20 cities in the US have seen significant portions of their population lose power and have had critical infrastructure like water, hospitals, emergency systems, food supplies, and even the grid itself put at risk due to ERCOT and the TX GOP's self-serving BS.
