Texans share their winter storm horror stories as millions remain without electricity
Millions of people are isolated in the frozen dark, water in some cities must be boiled before drinking, grocery store lines wrap around buildings, roads are treacherous — and Texans have gone from frustrated to impatient to downright angry.
In the rare moments when the sun peeks out from behind the achromatic clouds, it reflects off a sheet of white covering much of the state, from the beaches of Galveston to every inch of Dallas-Fort Worth, temporarily blinding residents who are accustomed to much more hospitable conditions.
Either trapped inside or chased from their homes by power failures or bursting water pipes, people are taking to Twitter to share their horrifying stories of living through a record-setting winter storm.
Across the state, people are dealing with burst water pipes in their homes and even in their hotel rooms. In Austin, the Austin Fire Department is no longer responding to broken water pipes due to too many reports across the city, KVUE said.
The finger pointing has already begun as people — including politicians — look for someone to blame regarding Texas’ power grid with a majority of fingers pointing in the direction of Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), CNN reports.
“This was a total failure by ERCOT,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said on Tuesday. “These are the experts. These are engineers in the power industry. These aren’t bureaucrats or whatever the case may be. These are specialists, and government has to rely upon on these specialists to be able to deliver in these types of situations.”
The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that failure of the Texas grid was due to operators not seeing the need to prepare for cold weather as republicans placed the blame on frozen wind turbines.
The anger over the power situation exploded on Twitter and those with and without electricity shared their thoughts on the matter.
Some Texans, they are a resourceful bunch, are making the most of of a bad situation, using the snow-covered streets as a ski slope.
This story was originally published February 17, 2021 at 3:51 PM with the headline "Texans share their winter storm horror stories as millions remain without electricity."