Snowpocalypse Now
Before reading the post below I am going to offer up a disclaimer of sorts. Although nothing bad and/or not-safe-for-work will be displayed or discussed, I want to take a moment to state that while the overall tone of this piece is rather casual in nature, I am by no means attempting to downplay the seriousness of Winter Storm Uri and its impact on Texas and Texans as a whole. During the storm roughly sixty-nine percent of Texans lost power at some point, close to fifty percent experienced disruptions to their water service, and the overall economic damage is estimated to be between $80 billion to $130 billion. It was a mess, it was an extremely serious event, and I really hope that we do not experience the sequel anytime soon.
Snow within my neck-of-the-woods, while not unheard of, is not exactly commonplace either. Although I am not statistician by any stretch of the imagination, I estimate that the hill country receives a measurable amount of snow roughly once every three to four years. This information is unofficially and solely based off the fact that prior to this post I dug through my photo archives and found that generally every three to four years, for the last two decades, I managed to take photos of snow in the Texas hill country. (Boom, informal stats for-the-win!) Last year, the hill country experienced two bouts of measurable snow. The first time, and of which has probably been forgotten by most, occurred in early January between the 10th and the 11th. The amount of snowfall during that winter storm was nothing extraordinary. The accumulation was just enough to obscure the landscape that it fell on, though I will say that it was the perfect amount for the kiddos to enjoy. If I recall correctly, the snow stuck around for roughly a day and a half before melting away and true Texas weather returned.
January Winter Storm
The second round of nontraditional Texas weather, or utter mayhem as most would call it, was brought to us roughly a month later thanks to Winter Storm Uri. Between the dates of February 10th and 18th Uri, as stated within the above-mentioned disclaimer, wreaked serious havoc on the State of Texas. The area where I reside received between 8 to 10 inches of total snow fall during the course of the storm. That may not sound like a lot for the readers that live in a climate where snow grows, but for us Texans, that amount was record setting. It was also an amount that, when coupled with a lot of ice, shut down most of our critical infrastructure. A good portion of local government agencies broadcast notices through various channels letting the public know that they would be unable to respond, or if they could, would have an extremely delayed response to calls for help. It was unlike anything I had really experienced before.
The Start Of Uri
Despite the chaos, the uncertainty, and coping with the loss of electricity and running water for roughly three days, we made the best of it. Actually, we managed to have a lot of fun. We treated the entire ordeal as one big camp out, which the kids loved, and admittedly so did I. My wife may not agree though. The time together, despite the circumstances, was great. The living room fireplace became the hub in which we all hung out around, for obvious reasons, and it felt good to be placed into a more basic and primitive operating environment that really allowed for us to be creative when taking on tasks that we would normally need power to do. (Making coffee, cooking, etc.) Being so disconnected was refreshing, at least in my opinion. It was even better when I ventured outside and went exploring, as the world around me was almost eerily silent, sans the occasional songbird chirping, and the four-stroke thumping from the Mule. I honestly felt, due to the lack of overall ambient noise, that I was in some type of post-apocalyptic land. Again, it was weird, but comfortable at the same time. I just felt oddly at peace.
Uri Sticks Around
One thing that I really need to stress though, so again as to not make it sound like Uri was no factor, is that we were equipped and ready before the storm was even a blip on the radar. (Well, I semi-retract that statement. I did stop and pick up some beer the day before all hell was unleashed.) However, I am a big proponent of the “Ps”. That is proper planning prevents piss-poor performance. In other words, and it should go without saying, it pays to be prepared. Due to the other types of weather events that we are exposed to in Texas, it just makes sense to have a plan of action and contingencies, as well as the tools and supplies needed to execute said plan/plans.
Uri Rages On
A lot of individuals were not ready, and I do truly feel bad for them. It is really saddening to see other humans struggle, especially when a lot of said struggle could have been mitigated. I can only hope the people that had issues treated the storm as a learning event and have made changes. Heck, we even learned a lot, and have since made adjustments for our household. You can never be too prepared, and more people need to realize that they are their own first line of defense. FEMA, TEEX, as well as a host of NGOs, offer a ton of online training, and a lot of it for free, that individuals can take to better prepare themselves to handle a host of different natural and manmade disasters. (I will provide links at the bottom.) The tools are there, and they are readily available. Please, look at them. If individuals fail to take advantage of them, well, that is on them.
On that note, I will go ahead and wrap up this post.
Storm Information:
NOAA Weather Event Summary
Texas Comptroller Economic Impact Report