Chill Factor of -13 in Dallas

[HCM]

https://www.foxnews.com/us/san-anton...n-winter-storm

San Antonio apartments catch on fire from suspected water tank explosion amid deadly winter storm
Demand for electricity to warm up homes unaccustomed to such extreme lows has overwhelmed the state’s power grid, leaving millions without heat for several days


https://twitter.com/MRHOLVRZ/status/...n-winter-storm

[willie]

Prior to the temp falling to 4 degrees, I turned off my water at the street for 2-1/2 days and used stored water. I felt that pipes in exterior walls would freeze. We have lost no utility services but many have. Ice has made travel dangerous. Magnitude and severity and length of duration have awarded these conditions historic status. In my garage I prepared a box of straw for my adult possum who lives here. Closed on all sides except one, it fits inside a bigger box. In the front a blanket forms a flap. Inside is dog food and carrots. In another spot I left a box of frozen earthworms for my road runners. We have it good in Waco.

[Ed L]

I got full power back with no more rolling blackouts on Wed between 0600 & 1200. Just to be safe, I have still not folded up the sleeping bag and put it back in the closet.

So far I have suffered no damage. Lots of people I know suffered damage. The most recent being a buddy in Plano who had a pipe burst over his living room and wash room and flooded his house, and a relative who lives near him in the same style house whose water heater went out and had a pip leak in several places.

[Shotgun]

Day Five.

18 degrees with a CF of 9. Atmos, the gas company, has warned of low pressure and potentially no gas at all. It looks like the microwave will get more use than usual as a result. I like using Dutch ovens, but that's a hobby for nice weather. If left with no other choice, we could still have something tasty and hot with the Dutch ovens. Blessed because we only have one exterior wall pipe that we have been battling to keep thawed. I have heard some terrible stories of burst pipes and flooding, mostly about people who don't have the tool to open the cover to get to their main water cutoff at the street.

No one can find a plumber. Sounds like those guys have full schedules until April, even for emergencies.

No boil order here fortunately.

I prepared a box of straw for my adult possum who lives here. In another spot I left a box of frozen earthworms for my road runners. We have it good in Waco.

You have a possum and Road Runners? There's a story there.

[Trooper224]

Day Five.

18 degrees with a CF of 9. Atmos, the gas company, has warned of low pressure and potentially no gas at all. It looks like the microwave will get more use than usual as a result. I like using Dutch ovens, but that's a hobby for nice weather. If left with no other choice, we could still have something tasty and hot with the Dutch ovens. Blessed because we only have one exterior wall pipe that we have been battling to keep thawed. I have heard some terrible stories of burst pipes and flooding, mostly about people who don't have the tool to open the cover to get to their main water cutoff at the street.

No one can find a plumber. Sounds like those guys have full schedules until April, even for emergencies.

No boil order here fortunately.



You have a possum and Road Runners? There's a story there.

Texas building code doesn't require cutoff valves inside the house?

Yesterday, I got in touch with some good friends in Huston. They were without power or water from Sunday through yesterday.

[Shotgun]

Texas building code doesn't require cutoff valves inside the house?

I am not a builder, so could get outside my lane quick on building code. New construction may require that but most residential properties have the cutoff on the homeowner's side of the meter at the street. There is no cutoff valve in homes. I would imagine many are thinking about that now, however. The only cutoffs I have ever had in three houses from Beaumont to Dallas were the ones underneath sinks and toilets.

[RoyGBiv]

Atmos, the gas company, has warned of low pressure and potentially no gas at all.

Was this on the news or some communication you received from them as a customer?
It would be tragic (but not outside the new normal) to lose the heat and freeze up in the final hours of this arctic chill.

You have a possum and Road Runners? There's a story there.

Indeed!

Texas building code doesn't require cutoff valves inside the house?

Code enforcement is a joke around here. Truck + Toolbox = Builder
My cutoff is buried in the planting bed in front of the house. Since most houses around here are built on slabs, I'm not surprised that the cutoff is outside, but, it would be way better to have it inside to make it accessible and keep it clean and out of the elements.

[Shotgun]

Was this on the news or some communication you received from them as a customer?
It would be tragic (but not outside the new normal) to lose the heat and freeze up in the final hours of this arctic chill.

It was a customer notice received yesterday. They were asking us to use as little as possible - not run gas fireplaces for example. We have a wood burning fireplace fortunately.

[Rex G]

My son’s rental house, in Seagoville, Texas, never lost power. It may be because he is on the same circuit as critical infrastructure, perhaps the nearby federal prison. There is a specific hotel, for example, near the massive data center, in Houston, that almost never loses power, because a data center is critical infrastructure. (Too bad that it is not a nice hotel.)

Edited to add: For non-Texan members, Seagoville is in the DFW area, near Mesquite.

[Trooper224]

For a state that thinks so highly of itself, Texas seems to have been remarkably unprepared for this event.