Posted on 02/02/2023 2:42:23 PM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Thousands of frustrated Texans shivered in their homes Thursday after more than a day without power, including many in the state capital, as an icy winter storm that has been blamed for at least 10 traffic deaths lingered across much of the southern U.S.
Even as temperatures finally pushed above freezing in Austin — and were expected to climb past 50 degrees (10 Celsius) on Friday — the relief will be just in time for an Arctic front to drop from Canada and threaten northern states. New England in particular is forecast to see the coldest weather in decades, with wind chills that could dive lower than minus 50.
Across Texas, 430,000 customers lacked power Thursday, according to PowerOutage.us. But the failures were most widespread in Austin, where frustration mounted among more than 156,000 customers over 24 hours after their electricity went out, which for many also meant their heat. Power failures have affected about 30% of customers in the city of nearly a million at any given time since Wednesday.
Allison Rizzolo, who lost power in Austin, told KEYE-TV that she wished there were more clarity from the city on what to do or expect.
“I get that there’s a fine line between preparedness and panic, but I wish they’d been more aggressive in their communications,” Rizzolo said.
Unlike the 2021 blackouts in Texas, when hundreds of people died after the state’s grid was pushed to the brink of total failure because of a lack of generation, the outages in Austin this time were largely the result of frozen equipment and ice-burdened trees and limbs falling on power lines. The city’s utility warned all power may not be restored until Friday as ice continued causing outages even as repairs were finished elsewhere.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
For the first time in years Texas is getting some ‘Stock Show” weather and all th $#ithole refugees are having a hissy-fit.
First off in Texas you don’t buy an all-electric home because weather happens and electric lines go down. Second Hank Hill selling propane was an insider joke.
I would argue purposefully written that way...
My neighbor across the street had one of his split in two. I just look at my white, red, and post oaks and breathe a sigh of relief.
Yes, there is. At least in some places.
Rich people like trees and know people with power who call politicians who call CEOs of utility companies.
Then a job doesn’t happen or gets redesigned to use “tree wire”.
Then a tree doesn’t snap the wire, but the tree snaps the crossarms, and you have 12.47kV, or 13.3kV or 34kV energized primary on the ground.
There was a huge ice storm in the Texas Hill Country in the late ‘70’s or early ‘80’s that destroyed the Live Oaks. We had one on our deer lease that was 48+” at the base split in two.
We ended up stuck there for several days.
Yeah, there are better tree options for residences, and you named some of them. The Live Oaks were fine when left alone in fields along with other trees and large shrubs. But as a anchor tree placed in the middle of a lawn or near sidewalks in new housing tracts? Not so much.
Mine are all dying of oak canker. It is bad in East Texas where I live. Especially on a rare oak that grows on the sugar sand in my backyard called a bluejack. I have lost about ten mature trees.
You should see my yard. I’m in the hill country with a few acres and my Spanish Oaks are obliterated. Trees just snapped in half.
LOL...you've obviously never lived in Washington state. The Washingtonians LOVE their trees. Power outages from tree limbs on lines were ubiquitous in winter weather. Fortunately, the guy who built our house equipped it with a propane fireplace, which kept the whole house toasty. With LED, propane and kerosene lanterns and a couple of butane one-burner stoves, we survived nicely.
After many, many, many complaints, the local REA utility is now "undergrounding" the transmission lines.
Didn't something like this happen LAST year??
Flee those cities, folks!
I’ve a fireplace and a generator.
Come visit if you’re cold.
Make sure it is PROPANE powered, as you WILL run out of usable gasoline!
You can sure use a gas stove and oven in a home - with no venting, too!
(Although I’d crack a window to get some makeup oxygen into the house.)
It uses gasoline or propane. So far we have just used propane.
I’ve lost dozens of trees - not to ice but to the Emerald Ash Borer - in the last few years.
Oh well, it makes for good firewood.
(Did I mention I have a fireplace?)
All new builds are underground.
At least from the street to your house.
Good for you!
I tried to fire up my snowblower last month, but evidently I failed to add the gumout stuff last summer and the carb needs removed and cleaned.
Hard to feel bad for those liberal idiots, so I won't.
Freeze.
Austin to New Braunfels area had it pretty bad....between fallen LARGE tree branches and power outages.
Prayers up, for all.
It was year before last....2021.
Many of these folks weren’t able to purchase generators (whole house), due to the supply chain issues. Sorry, for them. We’ve had ours, since Ike.
But.....couldn’t they have bought smaller (gas) generators, in all of this time??
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