We got power last night around 7:30...

[Trueblue Texan]

...and so far, it has stayed on. I was able to watch Chris Hayes, Rachel, Lawrence before starting to fall asleep and going to bed. This morning I was able to take ANOTHER shower...oh JOY!!!

I don't want to have to go through another week like that. Jesus, we can do better. It was like a 3rd world country and I'm one of the lucky ones. Our water froze Monday and we woke up to nothing in the pipes Tuesday morning. We are fortunate we have a hot tub to steal water from to flush toilets, but things could have gotten really bad. We rinsed dishes in water from the hot tub and wiped them with soapy cloth before rinsing with what little clean water we had. We had paper plates and cups we used. We had drinking water from the reservior of the water purifier..but we didn't know how much we had or how long we'd be without water. All of this is very luxurious compared to what most Texans had to endure.

One of the patients I called to check on told me that all this was due to liberals being against fossil fuels. it was very hard to keep my jaws clenched and not let the words fly.

[Squinch]

1. And the weather changes tomorrow! You made it!

Unfortunately, I think your patient is probably in the majority in Texas in who he is believing is responsible for this. Which means it is likely to happen again. All you can do is prepare your own self for the next time.

Get a generator. Keep a week's food on hand. Sadly, you are likely to need it.

[Trueblue Texan]

2. We always have plenty of food...

...we were able to keep the little old lady next door and her daughter well fed throughout this mess! But that generator is a must have! We need to have a better plan to protect our pipes as well.

[Squinch]

3. Yes. That's a tough one with the way construction is done down south.

And how kind you were to take care of them that way!

[LiberalArkie]

7. I run everything in my house except oven with my 8KW propane generator.

I have 3 mini-splits that do work quite well even when it was -12 outside.

[roamer65]

9. Here is a smart person.

Last edited Thu Feb 18, 2021, 12:58 PM - Edit history (1)

[LiberalArkie]

14. This has been made possible due to the mini-split heat pumps. On my oldest - least efficient one

it only pulls 6 amps when heating to 80 deg and 10 deg outside. These units have made it possible to live off grid. I am on grid and my whole (small 1000 sq ft) house with the exception of the oven runs off a 40 amp breaker year round. I have 3 of the mini splits, 1 in living area and 1 in each bedroom. I also have a hybrid hot water heater that pulls about 3 amps during the summer when I am on heat pump water heating. I have 3 computers all the usual kitchen appliances and 3 large screen tv's.

I have run on generator one year for 3 weeks when an ice storm came by and tore down power lines all over central Arkansas. Like Now the only bad thing was not being able to run to the store for stuff.

And it is really all cheap.

[WhiteTara]

12. Is an 8kw generator enough to run the whole house?

[LiberalArkie]

15. for me - yes.. LED's and very efficient stuff.

If I was being it now, I would get a 12 KW or so, just so the gen was being strained. Depending on what heating/cooling and other stuff, you might need more or less capacity.

[LiberalArkie]

16. check this out..

https://www.generac.com

[WhiteTara]

18. Thanks.

How often have you used your generator in the past several years?

[Hortensis]

4. :) "ANOTHER shower..." Glad to hear it.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

5. A single burner camp stove on a bottle of propane is a lifesaver.

During a week of being without power following an ice storm several years ago, we had hot coffee, hot meals, and warm hands because of a little Coleman camp stove that screwed onto the top of a small propane tank. The thing takes up less room in storage than a pair of shoes.

[Liberal In Texas]

6. Glad to hear it. According to Oncor's site:

Oncor serves North and Central Texas:
As a result of increased generation and stable demand, Oncor has been able to cease controlled, or rotating, outages. The outages that remain are a result of damage from Wednesday’s winter storm, previous winter weather and storm damage that could not be identified until equipment was re-energized, and damage to electric equipment caused by record-breaking low temperatures. Our field personnel will continue working 24/7 to restore power to remaining customers. Due to the large amounts of system activity surrounding power restoration, it may take some time for our tracking systems to accurately reflect updates in our outage map.

Things should start to improve soon. Except of course most of the grocery stores are about out of food.

[JohnnyRingo]

8. Blame the liberals!

Even as their republican government proves itself insufficient, incapable, and in trouble. Even liberal New York can slough off a blizzard and conduct business as usual, thank goodness. Uber liberal California handles wildfires and earthquakes more independently than red state Texas can cope with a cold snap.

Do you know what they call that disastrous weather in liberal New England?... A mild February.

[DownriverDem]

10. If I lived there I would

make sure folks I talked to knew the truth: Texas has their own grid. Most of the state of Texas is on that grid. It was put into place so Federal regulations didn't have to be followed. I would not let the lies pass on this one. Even the governor had to walk back his blame for the power outages.

[FailureToCommunicate]

11. Glad you made it thru. Our son near Dallas has been running supplies to folks who

dare not go out with the bad driving conditions. He learned to drive in New England, so he has had no trouble getting around, he says.

He has his girlfriend's mother also staying with them as she got frozen out of her place (no heat, no water)

Two more days till the temps rise above freezing again.

Hang in there.

[Klaralven]

13. Looks like the South Texas 1 nuclear station is coming back on line

36% of rated capacity this morning. Probably still ramping up its output.

The other three, South Texas 2 and Comanche Peak 1 & 2, are at 100%.

https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/event-status/reactor-status/ps.html

[33taw]

17. Does Texas us only wind and solar?

[LizBeth]

20. It was a Republican lie. Wind/solar is about 10% and they outperformed. It is well documented and

confirmed. The failure was gas and oil I believe. Not sure what they call the oil.

[LizBeth]

19. Good for you. My son is in San Marcos and I just got a text he got power this morning. !!! I feel

much better.