“Now, this is a story all about how my life got flipped turned upside down”… for 3 days during a winter storm. It’s a rather long tale so get a cup of something warm and settle in.
I was excited to have a snow day in Texas as it is not something we get to experience very often. I watched out the window as the snow flurries fell on Valentine’s Day. Naively, I even hoped to get the full 6 inches the weatherman was estimating for our area. Your girl was super stoked. However, the excitement of having a couple of snow days was very short-lived. What started as a beautiful experience would soon evolve into the dire situation that you may have heard about in the news over the past few days.
Monday.
The situation transformed into a state of emergency at about 2 am on Monday during the first rolling blackout. Initially, I wasn’t worried since we have experienced rolling blackouts before during the summer months anytime the system would become overwhelmed. During those instances, the lights would go off for 15-30 minutes max.
I knew that something was amiss when the power surged for a second time at 4 am and didn’t return within 2 hours. At 6 am, we reported the outage to our electricity provider but from the looks of the messages in my Ring app, I could tell that this problem was more widespread than just my neighborhood. Fortunately, we have gas fireplaces in our home that we could use to stay warm.
After 12 hours elapsed without power, I decided to go charge my electronic devices in my car.
Around 6 pm, my husband noticed the security light come on at my neighbor’s house. I ran into the house to cook dinner as quickly as possible since I didn’t know how long this grace period would last. I was able to quickly cook chili and cornbread before the power went back off. We had power for a total of 30 minutes. We ate dinner by candlelight.
I was optimistic that the power would come back on within the hour. I was definitely wrong. After the first hour passed, my husband and I came to the conclusion that it wasn’t coming back on any time soon.
We shifted to survival mode.
The meteorologist projected that temps would drop to 3 degrees that night so we immediately rearranged our den. We positioned our couch directly in front of the fire and collected blankets from around our home. I had the smart idea to build a faux wall behind the couch using my photography stand and thick curtains to try to keep as much heat in the room as possible. We put on multiple layers of clothing as well. I put on two to three layers of everything except underwear. We put a blanket on the dog to ensure she remained warm. We snuggled up near the fire.
People in our neighborhood started using the Ring app to discuss their plight in trying to stay warm. Many people were searching for firewood to burn to stay warm. When they couldn’t locate any firewood, people would encourage them to remove the wood from their fences as a final resort. Some people had to rely solely on blankets and layers of clothes and hot water to stay warm. The hotels in our area had no availability so people had no choice but to shelter in place. The chatter on the app grew overwhelming so I decided to just go to sleep in hopes that Tuesday would be better.
Tuesday.
The thermostat read 48 degrees in our house on Tuesday morning. I could only imagine how cold other people who didn’t have any source of heat or shelter overnight were at that moment. It made me sad yet grateful at the same time. The power came on at 9:30 am. We had been without power for 16 hours at that point. My first thought was to make coffee since that is a big part of my morning routine. We also cooked a hot breakfast to warm ourselves up. Once we finished breakfast, we did a quick walk around the house to see if there were any areas of concern.
Our pool was partly frozen. Everything else seemed okay. The water in all the bathrooms and kitchen had been running since Saturday to try to prevent the pipes from freezing. The water was still moving freely. We took turns taking a quick shower and layered up for the day while we had central heat. The power went off once I was done showering. *insert sarcastic yay here*
Temps in the house had only warmed up to 55 degrees at that point.
I noticed that the cold water in the sink in my master bathroom was working but the hot water wouldn’t come on. It worked everywhere else in the bathroom but the double sinks. We weren’t too concerned since there was hot water running to the shower and bathtub in that room and everywhere else in the house.
Later that day we heard a loud sound.
The hubs and I yelled back and forth to each other trying to figure out where the noise was coming from. A few seconds later, my husband yelled for me to come downstairs. The pipes in the master bathroom had ruptured and water was pouring into the den through the ceiling fan, the recessed lights, and flowing down the wall of the windows. The water was even cascading out of the ceiling of the outdoor patio forming icicles on the windows!
Hubs had the quick instincts to turn off the main water valve outside to reduce the amount of damage. I ran to find the mop bucket to try to catch some of the water. I was standing ankles deep in water once he finally got the water turned off. For a moment I stood there feeling very overwhelmed at the sight of this river of water now flowing in our den.
The couch was wet. All the cute decorations and textiles in the room and the electronics we had brought into the room were floating. I was wet and getting even colder. The temperature in the house was in the lower fifties.
I couldn’t stand there wallowing in self pity.
I had to move quickly to unplug everything in the space just in case the power came back on at that moment. It took what seemed like an eternity, a gang of towels, and lots of mopping to clean up all the water. At this point, I was cold, my toes were numb, and I was becoming super annoyed with how the situation was unfolding. We had to fend for ourselves without power, internet, and running water.
We are resilient though so we just powered through the mess.
The power finally came back on around 7 pm just in time for us to play the game What can we cook in 30 minutes for dinner before it was pitch black again. Shasha described the game perfectly in her reel on Instagram.
I developed a headache after dinner. The mix of cold air and dry heat from the fireplace was making it worse. I decided to retreat to my cold bedroom, get in my bed with multiple covers to stay warm, and go to sleep. I didn’t even care that there wasn’t any heat in that room at this point.
Wednesday
Early Wednesday morning, the power company started getting a little better with the rolling blackouts. It popped on once around 3 am for an hour and returned around 10 am. We would have power for 2 hours at a time before they would shut it off again. I didn’t get excited because I knew we would be without power for many hours soon after.
The gas company also started texting us repeatedly to ask us to reduce our consumption of natural gas due to the possibility of running out of resources. The natural gas lines were also freezing. The water company issued boil water advisories for people living in surrounding communities due to failing water treatment plants. Many Texans lost access to water altogether. We didn’t have running water at that point so I wasn’t too concerned about its effects on my household. That day it seemed like all the utility companies got together to compete for the title of “Most Incompetent Utility Provider during a Natural Disaster. “
Thursday
Another cold night came and went. The power came on at 7 am. We spent most of the day waiting for Oncor to switch it back off. Fortunately, it stayed on. Spectrum restored our internet this day as well so we were excited. We still did not having running water like so many other Texans due to bursting pipes or a tainted water supply. Friday was the day I finally felt like I could exhale. The weather was expected to finally reach above freezing. We could now focus our attention on dealing with the aftermath of the ruptured pipes. Although we were inconvenienced for a few days, we are left in a much better predicament than many of our fellow Texans.
In fact, many people died as a result of the power outages during this winter storm.
Elderly people and children froze to death without heat, some families died in house fires trying to stay warm, and some died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning due to improper ventilation. It was such a tragic turn of events.
Many people have asked how they could help those in need.
I would encourage you to support the relief organizations mobilizing on the ground to assist Texans through this disaster. The need for food and bottled water is great in the community since a lot of the grocery stores are bare after trashing spoiled food or selling out earlier in the week. The need for plumbers and home restoration services is insane. If you have this skill set, consider heading to Texas for a spell.
Here is a short list of organizations assisting families in my area.
- North Texas Food Bank
- United MegaCare
- CNN has also compiled a list of agencies providing resources here
- Mission Arlington
- Texas Baptist Men
If you can’t contribute financially, don’t fret. Local citizens can volunteer their time or services to different organizations providing relief. If you live abroad, please consider praying for families that lost their homes and loved ones during the storm. There were already many people in the state hanging on by a thread due to loss of employment during the pandemic. These people are now in dire straits due to the aftermath of this situation.
Thank you all for the outpouring of love and concern during a trying time. Your support will not be forgotten. Stay safe and well.
