Hit by an unnatural cold storm over the past week or so, with some dead from a recent 100 plus car collision on a highway(caused by icy conditions), and now millions without power because of the power grid failure there... and it doesn't look much better in the coming week with more cold storms on the way. I know some here are from Texas, and I wish you well.

lol natural disaster. lol go to target and get some thermals you big fucking babies!

Is icy weather that uncommon in Texas?

I’m surprised that a 100-car pile-up occurred, as to me it would imply the road surfaces aren’t suitable for cold weather and there’s little plans to salt roads / close them completely when conditions are unsuitable.

Their infrastructure isn't setup to deal with such cold weather. That's why things are so bad for them compared to us in Minnesota that are use to such cold weather and are prepared for it.

stores are closed because there is no power

they can't get things from the store, not thay they could get there with vehicles crowding the roads due to bad drivers clogging the roads

yeah, it's not a big deal if your cities are prepped for it - i've been in my fair share of sub-0 weather - but if the governments didn't prepare for it folk can't set themselves up now

stay safe out there, texans

any store worth their salt should have a backup genny.

lol bad driving its a bit of ice you get to a proper operating speed and let your foot put slight pressure on the pedal and only accelerate when you need to to maintain speed while being ready to break, ice and snow driving isn't hard.

lol bitch please I've been dealing with -10F/-12c to -40f/-40c for the last week and god damn half I don't want to hear it the only thing that could possibly make my day worst is 2ft of snow added on top, and even then WE WOULD STILL HAVE SCHOOLS OPEN, Cities should have plans and procedures for disasters and civil management, and so should people this happens every January to March where the South just further proves its full of idiots that don't like being prepared.

its why I don't trust anything below the Mason Dixie Line, or I-94 due to the amount of people from the Cities and Wisconsin.

but hey Menards is still open power outs or not!

Texas has suffered from poor leadership for a long time and this is where it led them. Lots of innocent Texans are freezing right now and caught up in all this.

I don't blame the average person for their leaders if they didn't vote for them. I hope the ones that did now have buyer's remorse. If they still don't even after this, it's hard to feel sorry for them.

I hope more people will try to be more forward-thinking and less myopic in making decisions involving energy and the ever-changing environment.

I'm pretty fortunate that I saw this coming, and stocked up what I could before it hit. While I have lost power from time to time and had to deal with my house dropping to 50F inside, I am ok. Managed to get my home back up to 65F and so far, no busted pipes. I also filled my car up before it hit, so when I had to leave to go to my moms for a warm place to sleep I was able to drive over there carefully.

Just to put into perspective, yes this is a total fuck up from our state government, but you also have to remember that this is such a bizarre scenario that no one predicted could happen. The last time this occured was back in 2011 and I don't even think it was as bad as this. Hopefully, our government and power companies will address this by getting a proper set up where we can avoid this in the future. We literally became the California of freezing weather for how our electrical infrastructure failed.

I have a cousin who lives in the San Antonio area, and she seems to be doing okay, but we still worry about her. And I've seen a lot of headlines criticizing the shenanigans over it by certain politicians from there... Anyways, keep safe.

I think this is pretty unusual for Texas, at least the severity of it. Tyler would probably know more about it, since he lives there.

Very unusual, and it's also because not everyone in Texas knows how to drive on snow/ice well. Normally when it snows, it only hangs for a day and it doesn't stick on roads anyway, just a fun little blanket where you can build snowmen and have snow ball fights. Something that happens merely once a year in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, and about a week or two total in the panhandle. Austin and further south gets some maybe once every other year or so.

Yeah, Texas drivers are kind of dumb when it comes to ice but it's not necessarily their fault. We just don't experience this enough. Most of us stayed home and only drive if there's absolutely no other option like in my case where my house was getting really cold and I need to take my cat somewhere warm.

I'm near Austin in a town called Round Rock. I ran out of meds at this perfect time. I need to get lab tests done before I can get my meds and I did this before the storm hit, but my pharmacy didn't get the labs in time to refill. I'll be out by Saturday night.

Do they have to be prescription meds?

Yes, the pharmacy guy actually gave me an emergency 3 days worth even though he isn't suppose to, my medication is known to be abused by people or something like that so it isn't easily given.

I wished there was something I can do to help, I actually live pretty close by in Cedar Park. Hopefully you'll get through this ok.

unnatural cold storm...*facepalm*... it's a once in a decade weather event, not a conspiracy.

lol its a bit of snow and cold.

snow, sleet, and freezing rain here in mississippi but not enough to knock out the power thankfully (though my light was dimming here and there last night when the temp was down in the single digits)

single digits here is considered sweater weather, maybe even shorts!

not in fahrenheit it isn't. i don't do celsius.

Yeah, we may be a bunch of pussies when it comes to the cold, but we freaking own the summer.

Too hot for you northerners?! Oh BOO HOO!!! :P

fahrenheit only

Thoughts with the people of Texas. It's terrifying how precarious civilisation is. I hope they get the power on soon. And obviously people in Texas don't have all-weather tyres or know about winter driving.

I do feel like the administration dropped the ball though. They should have had contingency plans, they should have winterised their power supply, they should have road gritters on standby. This is people's lives they're playing with. I guess it's like when Trump dumped the pandemic taskforce though, these small-government people will have thought, "we've not had a pandemic / winter storm yet, so this is a waste of money."

So it falls to me to stand up for science:

People from climates where it snows make fun, but every time it snows in Denver the interstate is just fucking lined with one car after another that spun out. At least 30% of them have those "NATIVE" stickers so theyr not transplants either.

Also i literally almost die every single time I enter a roundabout. Not even lying, had a passenger the past two times and she's screaming WHAT THE FUCK WHY ARE THEY ALL TRYING TO KILL YOU in both roundabouts.

It's not bad if you have the basic supplies prepared ahead like a responsible adult.

2 weeks of food/water, a cheap generator, general hygienic supplies and what not. Thank goodness I don't depend on government to be any help at times like these. *rolls eyes*

A funny knee-slapper moment was when there was a "boil water warning" in some areas that didn't have power to utilize. Like how could you boil your water safely without having access to power lol (assuming you don't have gas stoves)

And I'm aware that the cold and iced roads is the normal for some of you in the northern areas, but before you pull your dick out for measuring, just be aware that alot of the homes built in Texas aren't insulation properly to withstand this degree of cold for a long period of time. Not to mention that the need to have salt/sand for the roads aside for a rare occurrence like snow is unlikely. (It's been maybe 10 years since I last saw snow here) and finally *deep exhales*... the panic buyers. Whenever something inconvenient happens, major or minor, people have the need to excessively buy anything to give them a sense of security, when they should have been somewhat prepared already if they have stored away something as basic as a 3 day supply of anything.

*gets off soapbox*

But seriously, I hope everyone is being safe out there and keeps warm. Drive carefully, and help out your friends and neighbors whenever you can with whatever you can offer. And thank you, everyone for the kind thoughts.

We're in this together as one. Isn't that right, Ted Cruz?

He seems to have stolen your UFO and GTFO'd to Cancun.

Probably wanted to avoid having to be that guy to explain the thing about the federal mandates to a crowd of pissed-off people lol.

It was a weather event equivalent to a Cat 5 landfall. Cannot be foreseen until about 1 week prior.

Won't blame the victims here.

WE GOT A CONSPIRACY GUYS!!!

In all seriousness, this makes me really sad. Thankfully, it doesn't seem like many people are buying it unlike other conspiracies out there.

My dear texas... How horrible...