As we’ve seen in the past few days, Texas has faced the coldest temperatures since the 80’s at a solid -23º at the lowest. We have had power outages, building wreckages, and criticism from many other horrendous events throughout. Keep reading to learn more about the Texas power outages!
The Snow
Of course, there was the snow. The highest depth of snow in the entire state was 8 inches, but in the Frisco area, it was around 5. The temperatures hit a grand low of 0º in Frisco, much below the freezing temperature of 32º. Although not seen as a harsh temperature in many Northern States, here in Texas, the infrastructure wasn’t ready for this. About two dozen people have died in their homes just because of the temperature.
The Power
Texas has its own power grid called ERCOT, or the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. However, this February, this grid wasn’t that reliable. Over 4.5 million homes and businesses were left without power for upwards of several days. The ERCOT then decided to implement 45 minute rolling blackouts, meaning blackouts occurred in different parts of Texas every 45 minutes, however, as we’ve seen, many families and companies faced hours and even days. Along with power, water was also scarce. Due to the pipes being frozen, water was unavailable in many places and because of the burst pipes, many cities and counties were on a boil water notice.
The Hate
On many social media platforms, Northerners began hating on Texas. One TikToker in general, Marcus DiPaola, a political news reporter, shared one of his opinions about the Texas Snowstorm.
He spoke about how Texas “voted for [the power blackouts]” and many other TikTokers including @BrendanIsUgly argued against his thoughts.
Thank you so much for reading!