It’s So Effing Cold

[SpeedySucks]

It's back down to 68/70 overnight. I just didn't want the power to go out at night and then freeze in my house because I had only kept it at 70 and had no reserve heat to sustain me. I am assuming you are also dealing with this power outage? Or are you just some obnoxious know it all with strong opinions who feels superior typing away from your soap box in a comfortably warm home? Give me a break. So zip it. I don't want or need your expert advice or scolding. Mmkay? Thx.

And whoever it was (I don't feel the need to scroll up and waste my energy), I was not "bragging". I am very sorry you are experiencing this. I will cut you some slack for being oversensitive and irritable. Everyone is here, including me.

I’m not in Texas but do live in a place that has been impacted by snow and below zero temperatures this week. I’ve been keeping my heat on 59 or 60 all week to avoid overtaxing my furnace and the overall grid, so my home is not “comfortably warm.” My sympathies are with those who do not have power right now, including those who will have to go without for longer because of people like you who overtax the system.

 

[ErikWilliam]

Where is the eyeroll emoji? Just wondering.

 

[SpeedySucks]

Where is the eyeroll emoji? Just wondering.

 

[ErikWilliam]

Thank you.

 

[Erin]

It's back down to 68/70 overnight. I just didn't want the power to go out at night and then freeze in my house because I had only kept it at 70 and had no reserve heat to sustain me.

If you are concerned about being cold in your house, I saw Ted Cruz went to Cancun, so maybe that is an option.

 

[Dobre]

Beto O'Rourke has posted a bunch of help hotlines for people in need as well as potential places to donate one's time or money in his twitter feed:

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twitter.com

 

[Vash01]

Austin is so expensive now. Real estate is insane all over, even the 'ghetto' just east of downtown across I-35. You wouldn't even recognize it now, it has grown so much. The small town vibe is over and traffic sucks. DH has property on one of the lakes and he always planned to retire and build his dream home there but he detests it now. He's just holding on to the property because it's only increasing in value exponentially. You might not like the new Austin. I don't.

I am a big city person. Austin was too small for me. May be I will like it now. I live in a big metropolis now. Real estate has skyrocketed everywhere.Blame California

 

[ErikWilliam]

I am a big city person. Austin was too small for me. May be I will like it now. I live in a big metropolis now. Real estate has skyrocketed everywhere.Blame California

They are all moving to Austin! It's becoming another Seattle.

 

[mjb52]

It's not all Californians moving to Austin. Some people are also moving there from Portland...

 

[Simone411]

Slowly but surely, the water pressure is back in my home. I probably have about 40% water pressure back. The water is a clear brown color, and dirt even came in out of the faucet in my bathtub. That's because the water tanks that hold reservoir water for our city was nearly empty and dirt got into the busted water lines. When most of the pressure is back, I'll be able to run the water until it clears up.

I commend our city workers. They've been working on the busted city lines since around 4 a.m. this morning. I know the Mayor in my town very well. He actually called me to check on me, and one of the officers at the Police Dept. also called me to make sure I had what I needed.

That's how it is in our town. The Mayor and others like the police dispatcher actually call the people in Mansfield like the disabled and elderly to make sure they're okay in emergency situations. I brought this up because I found out after watching The Talk on CBS that Senator Ted Cruz is in Cancun, Mexico on vacation while all the devastation is going on in Texas.

He mentioned there wasn't much he could do, but he's supposed to be coming back today????? What a jerk!!!! He wasn't even thinking about the state of Texas or doing anything about the emergency situation!! I'm so thankful that I live in a small city like mine where the Mayor and even the Police Dept. care about the citizens enough to call and check on them!! All I can say is screw you, Ted Cruz!! Forgive me about that, but it sort of pisses me off that he's so nonchalant about this emergency situation!!

I'm fine as far as drinking water goes. I have two gallons of drinking water, and my brother brought me two 2 liters of Sprite and a 2 liter coke. I've run the water some and it's slowly clearing up. I've stopped for now since water pressure isn't 100 % yet.

 

[MsZem]

I’m not in Texas but do live in a place that has been impacted by snow and below zero temperatures this week. I’ve been keeping my heat on 59 or 60 all week to avoid overtaxing my furnace and the overall grid, so my home is not “comfortably warm.” My sympathies are with those who do not have power right now, including those who will have to go without for longer because of people like you who overtax the system.

Some people are very sensitive to cold or have others living with them who require warmer temperatures. Given that the situation in Texas is due in large part to issues with their own grid (as others have noted) most everyone here is not taxing their system.

Also, Ted Cruz sucks, but we knew that already.

 

[Dobre]

Resource for people in Texas to help them find the nearest warming shelter:

Warming Centers – TDEM

tdem.texas.gov

 

[Vash01]

They are all moving to Austin! It's becoming another Seattle.

They are all moving to Arizona! We already had the snowbirds spending half their year here. Now we have people moving here permanently for the lower real estate, 360 days of sunshine, and no earthquakes.

 

[Aussie Willy]

Reception for Cruz when he gets home

 

[jlai]

A lot of folks I knew in Austin were without power for 2 days, and some had no power or water. Some are harvesting snow for water

 

[Susan1]

Where is the eyeroll emoji? Just wondering.

I use it all the time. (that's not a comment on your question, just the emoji you were wondering about. )

 

[taf2002]

We never lost our electricity or water but now we're having to boil our water.

 

[Susan1]

Texas ranchers scramble to keep animals alive in unusual cold

Texas ranchers worked overtime to haul water and hay to cattle to keep them alive during a freak winter storm, but some cows have already succumbed to unusual icy temperatures that also killed chickens, idled meat plants and threatened crops. The deaths of baby cows in the top U.S. cattle state...

www.yahoo.com

And I forgot I saw this on our news - 73% of the country has snow cover.

U.S. Snow Cover Reaches Record High Across Lower 48 States

The record-setting cold that has gripped the central U.S. has pushed snow cover across the 48 contiguous states to an all-time high in the 18-year database of the National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center.Snow covers about 73.2% of the U.S. to an average depth 6 inches (15...

www.bloomberg.com

 

[Moto Guzzi]

My nephew in the Dallas/Ft Worth area now has water in one bathroom sink and a toilet. Their electricity came back on briefly two days ago but that lasted about an hour. They are keeping warm with lots of blankets and are cooking on their grill.

 

[Vash01]

Slowly but surely, the water pressure is back in my home. I probably have about 40% water pressure back. The water is a clear brown color, and dirt even came in out of the faucet in my bathtub. That's because the water tanks that hold reservoir water for our city was nearly empty and dirt got into the busted water lines. When most of the pressure is back, I'll be able to run the water until it clears up.

I commend our city workers. They've been working on the busted city lines since around 4 a.m. this morning. I know the Mayor in my town very well. He actually called me to check on me, and one of the officers at the Police Dept. also called me to make sure I had what I needed.

That's how it is in our town. The Mayor and others like the police dispatcher actually call the people in Mansfield like the disabled and elderly to make sure they're okay in emergency situations. I brought this up because I found out after watching The Talk on CBS that Senator Ted Cruz is in Cancun, Mexico on vacation while all the devastation is going on in Texas.

He mentioned there wasn't much he could do, but he's supposed to be coming back today????? What a jerk!!!! He wasn't even thinking about the state of Texas or doing anything about the emergency situation!! I'm so thankful that I live in a small city like mine where the Mayor and even the Police Dept. care about the citizens enough to call and check on them!! All I can say is screw you, Ted Cruz!! Forgive me about that, but it sort of pisses me off that he's so nonchalant about this emergency situation!!

I'm fine as far as drinking water goes. I have two gallons of drinking water, and my brother brought me two 2 liters of Sprite and a 2 liter coke. I've run the water some and it's slowly clearing up. I've stopped for now since water pressure isn't 100 % yet.

Thanks for the update. It must be tough but I am relieved to hear that you are not in immediate danger. I will be thinking of you and my friends in Texas. Hopefully it will warm up and things will slowly return to normal.

 

[becca]

I finally turned up my heat to 75 yesterday I kept it lower and then the Blackouts would hit and I would be very cold after hours of no heat. So I decided to turn my heat up higher to guarantee the reserve know that the heat seems to be stabilized I will lower it.

I am for the most part using a lot less than energy right now I won’t apologize for warming my house since heating tilt was being rationed and I experienced black outs

 

[Vash01]

Sent emails to two friends in Dallas. One said she had lost electricity but her gas furnace kept her warm. It is back now. The other has not responded, but she may be very busy helping.

 

[Susan1]

Sent emails to two friends in Dallas. One said she had lost electricity but her gas furnace kept her warm. It is back now. The other has not responded, but she may be very busy helping.

Hate to be a party pooper here, but I've never heard of a gas furnace running without electricity. Electricity makes the fans blow out the hot air. Unless the furnace was hooked up to a generator. The furnace should not even come on without electricity to trip the circuit. (That's my "I don't know the technical terms" explanation.) Just common sense. When we had a power outage for 3 days (during great weather, at least) due to remnants of Hurricane Ike all the way up here, I had to explain to a friend why her gas water heater worked but the furnace/a-c did not.

 

[Aceon6]

Hate to be a party pooper here, but I've never heard of a gas furnace running without electricity. Electricity makes the fans blow out the hot air. Unless the furnace was hooked up to a generator. The furnace should not even come on without electricity to trip the circuit. (That's my "I don't know the technical terms" explanation.) Just common sense. When we had a power outage for 3 days (during great weather, at least) due to remnants of Hurricane Ike all the way up here, I had to explain to a friend why her gas water heater worked but the furnace/a-c did not.

Depends on the type of system. Radiant systems and hot water systems work without electricity. The furnace heats the water and gravity takes care of the rest with the hot water going out/up and cold water being returned. My in-laws had a hot water system and all they had to do was light the pilot.

 

[Vash01]

Hate to be a party pooper here, but I've never heard of a gas furnace running without electricity. Electricity makes the fans blow out the hot air. Unless the furnace was hooked up to a generator. The furnace should not even come on without electricity to trip the circuit. (That's my "I don't know the technical terms" explanation.) Just common sense. When we had a power outage for 3 days (during great weather, at least) due to remnants of Hurricane Ike all the way up here, I had to explain to a friend why her gas water heater worked but the furnace/a-c did not.

This friend is very knowledgeable and I know she is telling the truth. I didn’t ask her the details. I am glad that she had heat when she was without electricity.

 

[Susan1]

Depends on the type of system. Radiant systems and hot water systems work without electricity. The furnace heats the water and gravity takes care of the rest with the hot water going out/up and cold water being returned. My in-laws had a hot water system and all they had to do was light the pilot.

I've heard of radiant heat, but how does it know what temperature? Thermostats here are controlled by electricity. You turn up the heat and it clicks on. My first apartment had radiators, and a great big boiler in the basement (like in Friday the 13th). We had to go down and push a button if it wasn't coming on. The other female in the four apartments and I used to go down there in our flannel nightgowns and quilted robes and fuzzy slippers together. My next apartment had electric heat. It was very expensive and very cold.

 

[Aceon6]

@Susan1 Many radiant and hot water systems have an “always on” setting to allow you to get heat when the thermostats aren’t sending signals. Modern radiant systems have valves that you can open and close to regulate heat manually, like closing the valve on a radiator.

 

[Cachoo]

So the podcast I listen to..two of the hosts have burst pipes, definitely one with major damage to his home. The small, independent coffee shop that occupies the first floor of the podcast building is covered in water. These are people with some means...what about the people who live paycheck to paycheck?

 

[Dobre]

So the podcast I listen to..two of the hosts have burst pipes, definitely one with major damage to his home.

Ugh. Apparently most of Austin has no water at all:

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twitter.com

Which would make it impossible to keep one's water dripping &, therefore, hard to keep one's pipes from freezing, particularly when the power was out for so long.

Cracked Pipes, Frozen Wells, Offline Treatment Plants: A Texan Water Crisis​

Cracked Pipes, Frozen Wells, Offline Treatment Plants: A Texan Water Crisis

Electricity was restored to most Texans who had lost power after a winter storm, but water systems for nearly two-thirds of residents were disrupted, leaving millions without drinkable water.

www.nytimes.com

It seems like the state's water system needs to be winterized along with its energy sources? It's one thing to have freezing pipes at separate residences; but you need city-wide water systems to keep water flowing. Even flowing untreated water is better than none for the pipe system.

 

[Susan1]

@Susan1 Many radiant and hot water systems have an “always on” setting to allow you to get heat when the thermostats aren’t sending signals. Modern radiant systems have valves that you can open and close to regulate heat manually, like closing the valve on a radiator.

Too bad everybody in Texas didn't have one of those.

p.s. all - Vash01 did say her friend had a gas furnace.