This has been a Cat5 hurricane level event, without any of the support or prep warnings. Over a wide stretch of Texas there were about 3-4 hours last Friday where you could do prep. While meteorologists kept sounding the alarm, local and state leaders didn’t convey urgency 1/

Due to ice, there was a limited window of time Friday for last minute prep. In Austin that was about 3-4 hours. At that point in time, most of Austin thought we’d be clear on Tuesday last minute supplies were obtained accordingly. 2/

Remember that your talking about a part of Texas where people out on puffy coats and Uggs when it’s in the 50s. Full on winterizing doesn’t happen here. We get 1 hard freeeze a year if we’re lucky. And that’s maybe 24 hours. 3/

Garages are uninsulated. Natives look like transplants like they’re crazy when we crack out heavy snow gear. A large percentage of heating systems use heat pumps. We just don’t need serious equipment for years at a time. 4/

On the 14th, we got a late heads up to expect rolling blackouts. They specified low duration events. Again, annoying but within our experience level. Around 2am on the 15th, snow falling and covering ice, the first rolling outages started. Only they never rolled. 5/

People woke up to 6 inches of snow, no power, and no timeline for when it would come back. Roads were impassable. That first day was annoying. Day two, with roads still not drivable, things got urgent. Household interior temps dropped into the 30s snd 40s. 6/

We hit record low temperatures. And stuff inside houses began to freeze. Including bottled water if it was out. I’ve got friends who had dish soap freeze in the bottle. No power means no internet. More people continued to lose power. 7/

In a Hurricane, there are generally large areas that can flood resources to other areas in need. This hit the whole state. At the same time. There was no large scale National Guard call out. H-E-B couldn’t preposition resources. 8/

In hurricanes we can move people around to safety. That hasn’t happened here. First responders, medical and vet staff, and other essential personnel have been trapped without relief at their jobs. City government took several days to get a system in place to move people around 9/

(Something where a bigger NG call out may have helped). Yesterday water pressure started to drop due to main breakages and high use. Apartments and homes flooded, and people have been stuck having to leave pets behind in dangerous conditions. Why? 10/

Because you can’t get them to safe places for boarding. Because icy roads. Even in a major post hurricane flood, people in boats can get to homes and rescue people. That hasn’t happened here. 11/

Directions for people trying to get to warming centers tell you to try and bring snacks, water, and extra blankets. Literally all you can be sure you’ll get right now is a warm space to sleep. 12/

All this is before you deal with the ongoing water loss. At least two hospitals were having serious issues last night. One of them being the regional Children’s Hospital/trauma center. Oh yeah, there’s also a pandemic going on. 13/

In a particularly cruel twist, a majority of vet offices are closed. People are having to watch their pets suffer and die at home. Because there’s nobody that can get them to someone who can help. Emergency vets have had to close due to water line breaks. 14/

Without the basics that many Texans keep on hand for hurricane season, this situation would be worse. But you can’t drink bottled water when temps in your home are at freezing. You have to be careful cooking if you use gas because CO poisoning. 15/

Cold drains all batteries at an accelerated rate. It got so cold that we were losing cell tower service because the towers were freezing. The only thing you could do is wait out the cold. 16/

Disaster prep matters. But it’s a two part contract. Citizens should do their best to prep basics for emergency situations. State and local governments have to do their part as well. With adequate, reasonable insulation at power plants, we would see less power loss. 17/

Ignoring the whole Texas isn’t on the national grid issue, that one thing would have mitigated the situation. Power generation sources were not winterized at reasonable levels to ensure reliability. Everything rolls back to the catastrophic failure of statewide power 18/

My cranky rants aside, Texans aren’t dumb. They’re resilient people. They can and do go out of their way to help others. Nobody had gear for multiple days in sub zero temps, without power, and no way to get help or get to help. 19/

This is going to go down as one of the worst national disasters on record. As people get power and access back, the stories are going to horrify you. Be kind to your friends in Texas. This has been a beast of a week. 20/end

Note that this has been written at 5am, after several very stressful days.