#Texas 2021 Freeze

[startrailsiv]

Lessons from the Big Freeze

Lessons from the Big Freeze

In February 2021 Texas temperatures plunged into the single digits. This historic freeze also brought an ice storm. Such frigid weather is far from normal in the Lone Star State. Usually we’re enjoying paper-whites blooming and planning our spring garden. We don’t have snow plows standing by and our homes are not designed for extreme cold. Rather we typically worry more about the heat! This…

[im-captain-basch]

They say it's supposed to be snowing next week...

[psychoticwillgraham]

now all the weather channels/youtubers aren’t even giving a snowfall accumulation number anymore bc of the wind blows just slightly different, then it’ll push it up from STL and we’ll get close to a foot of snow. oh and now we’re getting A LOT of ice so. wonderful :))

[fluffypotatey]

welp, looks like we freezing again this winter 🙃

[briethebish]

Valentine's first day of the Texas 2021 Freeze

[electionfraudking]

Really good heater in a pinch

Get a terracotta pot, stand it upside down on a couple bricks, and light a few tea lights underneath it

Heats up a whole room

[butchspace]

Hey Texans (and others in the US)!

We’re expected to have a freeze and harsh weather this week and/or next week (check your local forecast for specifics). Make sure you have some extra water storage, non perishable foods, blankets, and maybe some hand warmers in case our local or state power supply gets fucking destroyed again.

Make sure to at least set your heat to 55°F, keep cabinets with pipes in them open to allow heat in, and drip your faucets to help prevent pipes bursting.

It’s not anything to be scared about, and not likely to be as bad as 2021, but always better to prepared.

There might be snow in the panhandle today, though!

[lumberjackloverboy-moved]

i wonder if people outside of texas realize how genuinely traumatized many Texans are from the 2021 freeze and the grip even suspected cold spells now have on us

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA for calling animal control to take my moms dogs?

look. hear me out.

when my mom and i were originally planning on moving, i told her no dogs. she could have any animal she wants, but i will not, under any circumstances, live with a dog. i told her she can wait till our elderly cat passes away (hes 18), and until i move out. ive never had good experiences living with dogs. yes, i know, its because of the owners not training them. im saying, in no uncertain terms, that my mom would be too lazy to train a dog. like i love this woman with my whole entire heart but i know her well enough to know she would give up after two weeks. and then i would be stuck living with a potentially destructive animal.

so what did she do literally a week after we had this conversation? adopt a stray. a pregnant stray. shes a big dog too. my mom is a full time caretaker for my grandparents, and she found the dog wandering around the neighborhood. so she started feeding the dog. and then the dog had 12 puppies. you read that right. TWELVE. PUPPIES. she managed to adopt out 7 of them, but she still has 5 out at my grandparents house, plus dogmom, AND dogdad. my mother has also adopted who we think is the father of the puppies.

i will say she is doing her best to care for the parents and the puppies. she spends most of her time in the yard with them, and she built a pen for the puppies that gives them a ton of room to run around whenever shes not there. they have blankets and she built a roof over the half of the pen where their beds are and she feeds them plenty.

the biggest issue i have with it is all the broken promises. she said she would take them to our local hardware store to set up an adoption table for them several months ago, when they were still small. never happened. this is something that this hardware store does frequently, to help lower the amount of strays in the area. my mom just chose not to do it. every opportunity to adopt them out or send them to a no-kill shelter that has come her way, she has chosen not to take, just because she doesnt want to make the effort.

here arises the main issue. we are down in texas, and there is supposed to be a freeze incoming in just a few days. a major freeze, like the one that knocked out our power grid back in 2021. and my mom has 7 outside dogs who are not allowed inside, as my grandparents are elderly and disabled. theyre not allowed at home either, since we still have our old ass cat and we arent allowed to have extra animals, as per our lease. and it would be hard to hide seven large dogs, anyway.

im concerned that if i dont do something, they will freeze to death out there. blankets can only do so much, and if theyre taken to an animal control shelter, maybe theyll at least have heating? and if the power does go out, theyll at least be safe from the elements. i know animal control is probably evil and calling them is likely a death sentence for an animal too. but the way i see it, its either animal control or die out in the cold.

this is literally the situation that those really depressing ASPCA commercials were written about, except this is my life.

so, WIBTA for calling animal control to take my moms dogs?

What are these acronyms?

[warcrimesimulator]

Almost three years since the deadly Texas blackout of 2021, a panel of judges from the First Court of Appeals in Houston has ruled that big power companies cannot be held liable for failure to provide electricity during the crisis. The reason is Texas’ deregulated energy market.

The decision seems likely to protect the companies from lawsuits filed against them after the blackout. It leaves the families of those who died unsure where next to seek justice.

In February 2021, a massive cold front descended on Texas, bringing days of ice and snow. The weather increased energy demand and reduced supply by freezing up power generators and the state’s natural gas supply chain. This led to a blackout that left millions of Texans without energy for nearly a week.

The state has said almost 250 people died in the winter storm and blackout, but some analysts call that a serious undercount.

Within days of the storm, Texans affected by the failure of the energy system began filing lawsuits. Some of those suits were brought against power generators whose plants had stopped working in the storm or had run out of fuel to generate electricity.

After years of legal process, a three-judge panel convened to decide on the merits of those lawsuits.

This week, Chief Justice Terry Adams issued the unanimous opinion of that panel that “Texas does not currently recognize a legal duty owed by wholesale power generators to retail customers to provide continuous electricity to the electric grid, and ultimately to the retail customers.”

The opinion states that big power generators “are now statutorily precluded by the legislature from having any direct relationship with retail customers of electricity.”

🤡

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Since we're heading into winter...

The Supreme Court of Texas narrowly decided Friday that sovereign immunity, which largely shields government agencies from civil lawsuits, also protects the operator of the Texas electric grid.

The 5-4 opinion will likely free the nonprofit corporation from lawsuits filed by thousands of Texans for deaths, injuries and damages following the deadly 2021 winter storm, unless lawyers find another way forward.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages the power supply for most of Texas, qualifies for immunity because it “provides an essential governmental service,” Chief Justice Nathan Hecht wrote in the majority opinion. State law intended for ERCOT to have the power of an “arm of the State government,” Hecht wrote. If anyone is going to hold ERCOT accountable for its actions, Hecht wrote, it should be state regulators or the Legislature, not the courts.

Freezing temperatures gripped the state during the 2021 winter storm, straining the power supply so much that ERCOT called for cutting power to millions of homes and businesses to prevent the grid’s collapse. More than 200 people died. Experts estimated afterward that financial losses totaled between $80 billion and $130 billion, including physical damage and missed economic opportunity.

Thousands of residents accused ERCOT, power companies and distribution companies of failing to prepare for the freezing weather.

Lawyers expect the high court’s decision will allow ERCOT to be dismissed from the litigation, although it does not shield other defendants.

Attorney Mia Lorick, who represents some of those plaintiffs, said she sees only a slim possibility that lawyers could keep claims against ERCOT alive by arguing that their cases have differences that somehow skirt the sovereign immunity finding.

Majed Nachawati, whose firm is representing other plaintiffs in the related cases said, “The Texas Supreme Court’s decision is disappointing to say the least. People lost their lives and the only recourse to the citizens of Texas is to be able to go through the judicial process, and the judicial system, to try to remedy or right the wrong that occurred in this case. And if you can’t count on our judiciary to protect its citizens, I think we’re in a lot of trouble.”

Justices Jeff Boyd and John Devine, along with two others, disagreed that ERCOT has sovereign immunity. Purely private entities are clearly not sovereign, and making them so undermines the public trust, they wrote. The justices argued that “no statute designates ERCOT as a part of the government” and that courts should not be barred from hearing claims against it.

The ruling sprang from two cases filed against ERCOT. San Antonio’s municipally owned utility, CPS Energy, alleged that ERCOT mishandled the soaring price of power during the 2021 winter storm. And private equity investors at Panda Power Funds alleged that 10 years earlier ERCOT issued reports that misled them about how much power the grid needed.

ERCOT spokespersons issued a statement saying that the organization was pleased with the decision. CPS Energy said in a statement that it was disappointed but thankful that four justices agreed with the utility as it sought relief for customers. The utility said the litigation still led to “critical discussions at the highest levels that are necessary to improve our power grid and energy market.”

[eternalhealingau]

I don’t need to say much considering I drew this in a spur of the moment. But here’s some plot concerning him and Khrys’ kid.

Yes (in this AU) the 2021 Texas freeze happened due to this birth. Who knows if it’ll be brought upon by him, their first child, or even both.

I’ll never tell

[lonestarbattleship]

Since Texas is being hit by sub-freezing temperatures right now, I thought I'd share this photo of Galveston covered in snow.

It was photographed by Water's Edge Digital Photography and shared on their Facebook page: link

"Good morning!

With this arctic blast, I decided to share a photo from the last time we had snow on the island, back in February of 2021. It is an extremely rare occurrence of snow on the beach. I was lucky enough to get out for a couple of hours and capture the moment. Have a great day and stay warm.

Galveston, Texas"

[ladyshinga]

Being a Texan who types too fast sucks, it means a lot of accidentally saying you don't trust Epcot when what you MEANT to say was Ercot. I'm so sorry, section of a Disney park, I didn't mean to blame you for the great Texas freeze of 2021, that wasn't u 😩😩😩

[dykehayleywilliams]

may I ask about the mitski curse or is it secret knowledge

*LONG POST INCOMING* It all started in 2016.

I've been a Mitski fan since 2014 when First Love/Late Spring premiered on Stereogum and desperately wanted to see her live. The chance finally came after I moved to New York; I had tickets for her show in February 2016 at The Knitting Factory. But then. A freeze hit the city that weekend, resulting in a pipe in the shitty apartment bursting so I missed the show because I had to wait for the emergency repair guy to come by. Okay, well that's a bummer, I though. I've been waiting for almost two years to see Mitski but surely I'll get another chance. July 2016. I was living in Texas for the summer, a few hours away from Austin, where Mitski had a show scheduled. Perfect! I can drive up to the show! My old, barely functioning truck can handle the drive! It did not. My car broke down two hours outside Austin.

November 2016. Third try to see Mitski in a year is the charm, right? Oh wait, I waited too long to buy a flight to my grandma's for thanksgiving and I had to fly out the day of the Mitski show because every other flight was $500 more expensive.

By 2017 I was starting to get worried. I had tickets to see her April 2017, but I got horrific food poisoning and couldn't get out of bed for three days.

I didn't get another try until late 2018 on the Be The Cowboy tour during her 4 night residency at Brooklyn Steel. Except Mitski's popularity had blown up significantly and I couldn't get tickets when they went on sale the first three shows. BUT THEN a fourth show was added, on a Monday night, and I finally got tickets! Perfect! Until I had a final project for one of my classes scheduled the same night that I could not miss without failing the class, and I desperately tried to find tickets for another night but none were available for under $300.

At that point I was convinced: I was cursed. There were no tour dates I was even able to TRY to make, and then in September 2019 Mitski played Summer Stage (two weeks after I moved from New York) and announced it would indefinitely be her last live show.

October 2021: Mitski releases Working for the Knife and announces a tour. The closest tour date to where I was living was 8 hours away, but I fought for my life for tickets and was determined I would finally break the curse.

I got COVID two days before Mitski's Denver show in March 2022.

BUT WAIT! Mitski was announced as one of the openers for HSLOT's European stadium leg! And my friends and I planned a bar trip to Scotland that lined up with the weekend of Harry's show in Glasgow! Okay, maybe seeing Mitski as an opener at a stadium show isn't ideal, but I was desperate. Except, of course, the stadium entry was a complete mess, and we didn't get into the show until the very end of Mitski's set. I had finally seen her live, but for 8 minutes and at what cost.

I wasn't happy, but I told myself it wasn't the end of the world because I already had plans to see Mitski at the All Things Go festival in October, so redemption would come soon enough. Then Hurricane Ian hit and my flight to DC that had a layover in Orlando was cancelled the day before I was supposed to leave. At that point, there was nothing I could do but laugh. Why did I think it would go any differently this time? No. I couldn't take it anymore. I dropped wayyyyy too much money on a different flight to DC with no layover. That flight was delayed by 5 hours, but I made it. Nothing was going to stop me.

Mitski's set starts. We're in the pit, I'm 5'2" so I'm on my tip toes, straining my neck to keep my eyes on Mitski. And then. Everyone's BeReals went off during Francis Forever and the crowd became a sea of phones. I was crushed. I had broken the curse, but 9 years too late.

[fluffypotatey]

My fellow zillennial. It's come to my attention that Gen Alpha is apparently making aesthetic tiktoks romanticizing 2020, like they want to be a teenager during that time??? Like no? You don't? I can't even begin to start breaking down how bad that year was in every category. McDonalds apparently now has "standards" yet another rubbish thing to add to the "college degrees make you overqualified with zero experience sorry you can't get this entry job" bucket. And Lunchables news reporters are like 30 years too late to be writing an expose on the toxic levels of metal in that.

people were dying????? we were in a state of panic and isolation???? schools were struggling with the switch to online only classes????

do we all remember the BLM protests and the tips on how to keep your face hidden and how to stay safe from getting maced???? do we remember the pushback against it??? calling on botched stats???

do we even remember the fucking US election???? how heated it got???? how much distrust republicans tried to seed into mail-in ballots?????

and then literally January of 2021, the US legislative house gets stormed in, Texas has a freeze so bad our gridlock shuts down and PEOPLE DIED FROM THE COLD WHILE EVERYONE ELSE MOCKED US FOR FREEZING!!!

2020 was not a good year. it is the furthest from a a good year, but it sure as hell emphasized a motley of issues the world had going on (tho i’m more versed in the US issues bc i live there)