Drove from downtown to Hillcroft this morning. Took 59 and no ice on the road...some lights are out but you should be fine. Sorry about your daughter man.
The fire alarm going off indicates it was the sprinkler system that burst. There's no dripping those lines. Those are bursting in so many apartments now.
It's negative 5 and their pipes likely aren't bursting either. We know things are built differently based on the expected climate of an area.
My wife and I went to my mom's in Kingwood. Roads not bad. Our first shelter at a friend's also lost power. Kingwood currently has power. I'm sure that'll change but we got a hot bath and food. We'll live. God keep you all safe because the state of Texas...well, I'm a native, and there's much to love. But it's feeling third world-ish now.
My parents never lost electricity, but a pipe burst in the ceiling of their utility room. They could hardly get anybody to answer the phone much less show up. Some of the big names said they're swamped. Finally found somebody to come look at the issue. Hopefully that's the only issue they'll run into. It's a crappy feeling not being able to help people that helped you your whole life.
This is exactly what happened to mine. The burst was from the sprinkler system. Another one burst this morning as well. And another two nights ago.
Finally, after 42 hours I have power. Not sure how long it'll stay on. Gonna prep for another and hope for the best.
Friend at work had a pipe bust and when he called the plumber they said he was 80th in line.....jeez. I have electricity but no water as of this morning, had it last night but nothing today......Dear Lord, you don't know how much you take these basic necessities for granted until you don't have them. Funny thing is in my 10 years in Omaha with the -20 days on end I never had an issue with pipes, water or electricity
Local building codes can prepare you for it, but it costs extra money to have a house ready for multiple days way below freezing, from what I understand. It's like my home in SF not at all being ready for a couple of 105 ˚F days we've had in recent summers, (with no AC or proper window awnings or insulation for such temps). Was so brutal and the attic got dangerous hot.
Seems like nat gas energy production has actually been doing well but certainly not good enough. We are around summer 2020 energy generation from nat gas. Everything else not so much. Lack of winterization on wind, coal, and nuclear hurt them the most on a percentage of energy production basis. Nat gas is the only thing working well. Demand shock was no joke either. Thanks for the link
Left Monday night to stay at my dad's who had power, turned off the water to our house and drained the pipes. I'm hoping that saved me from any pipe bursting since we were without power for over 24 hours. Going to wait until Saturday or Sunday to turn the water back on hoping they'll be thawed and fine (neighborhood doesn't have any water pressure rn anyway and we filled up a bathtub and have bottled water). Seems like a few more days of suffering without running water is better than a much bigger and longer lasting problem.
TO AUSTIN PEOPLE I have a friend who does a lot of work with the city and has good sources. The city might be shutting off water today. Obviously that would be a complete disaster, but just passing it along Fill up whatever you can just to be safe. The mayor was telling people to not drip faucets because water usage was up 250%, but I think it's probably more likely due to busted pipes everywhere rather than people dripping faucets. Let's hope this doesn't happen, but I've been prepped for it just in case.