Across the state of Texas, residents are struggling to deal with an unprecedented power shortage caused by a severe winter storm that鈥檚 left millions in the state without heat and electricity.
Bill Magness, the CEO of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), told on Tuesday that 70 to 80 of state鈥檚 680 power plants were offline. And that the issues at those power plants were causing outages for many.
鈥淸The storm] increased demand to an extreme, extraordinary height, and then the storm also made it difficult for the supply to be provided,鈥� Magness said in the interview. 鈥淲e have seen nothing like this honestly in Texas.鈥�
Magness鈥� claim has been backed up by the National Weather Service. They鈥檙e that today is the coldest February 16 in the region since 1903. It鈥檚 also 鈥渢he coldest temperature recorded at the official Dallas/Fort Worth climate site since January 31, 1949.鈥�
This ties for the second coldest minimum temperature in city history, with records extending back to 1898. The only colder minimum temperature to be recorded is the all-time record low of -8 F on February 12, 1899. (2/3)
— NWS Fort Worth (@NWSFortWorth)
The blisteringly cold weather paired with the outages has left many in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex scrambling to find warmth. 四虎影院 reporters Alejandra Martinez & Bill Zeeble reached out to some of these individuals to hear how they鈥檙e getting by.
Fort Worth resident Ben Fort said he lost power at 2 a.m. on Monday. 鈥淪o, we got our 2-year-old and our 4-year-old and brought them into our bed with us,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e kind of bundled up like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to try to stay warm.鈥�
Despite their efforts, by the end of the night, the temperature in their house dropped to 42 degrees.
鈥淎t that point, we were like we can't stay here,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 tweeted about our cold house. And then three different friends texted me.鈥�
Fort and his family packed into their car, drove to a friend鈥檚 house and are feeling much warmer now. Still, Fort can鈥檛 help but think of those who are less fortunate today. 鈥淵ou think about people that didn't have a place to go or didn't have someone checking in on them or offering to have somewhere to stay,鈥� he said sadly.
Candice Musser, a Collinsville resident, also lost power and saw temps dropping in her home. But unlike Fort, she connected with family for warmth. Musser has two children, a 4-year-old and a 6-month-old.
鈥淲e have been without power since yesterday morning at 11 a.m.. It will come on for 5-10 minutes at a time and then go right back out,鈥� she wrote to 四虎影院. 鈥淭hankfully, we have a small propane heater. We are camped out in my sister's living room so we can share it. She lives across the street with her 4-year-old.鈥�
Dallas鈥� Taylor Rodriguez wasn鈥檛 ready to flee from her 33-degree condo, but she did call upon family to help her grandmother and her dog.
鈥淔ortunately, my aunt in Garland has electricity. She came and picked up [my grandmother] and my dog, because it's just so cold,鈥� Rodriguez said. 鈥淢y grandmother had eight blankets on.鈥�
Rodriguez said she鈥檚 relying upon her car鈥檚 battery to charge her devices and to get a bit of warmth from time to time. But she says she feels fine knowing that those who are close to her are safe.
Twitter user and Fort Worth resident @princesspricey_ said the outages and plummeting temps put her in a difficult situation: be cold or risk a COVID-19 infection by booking a hotel?
鈥淚t is a really sorry situation out here,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e're lucky because we have the resources to go stay in a hotel and go buy food. And we have a car that can drive on this [ice].鈥�
How long have you been without power馃攲 ?
— 四虎影院 (@keranews)
Comment or DM & share how you鈥檙e fighting the extreme cold 馃ザ
Her family ended up choosing the hotel route. But still, she鈥檚 worried about her friends, her neighbors, and especially people without options.
鈥淚 know most of my neighbors we've been in contact with them to make sure they're okay and everybody's evacuated at this point, but there's a lot of apartment communities and older homes that I know don't have the insulation that I do,鈥� she said.
Robin Teague agrees with those concerns about people in older homes. Teague and his wife live in North Oak Cliff, which is known for its old homes. And he said people throughout his neighborhood have been dealing with rolling blackouts for about 24 hours.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been rolled up with blankets on the sofa. Obviously, we鈥檝e had no television or anything,鈥� he said.
Teague suspects many in the neighborhood have been dealing with cold spaces like he has, but he鈥檚 thankful his old home has a gas range and oven because it鈥檚 allowed him to cook.
鈥淚 guess most of the neighbors we have are still running on gas,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o, most of us have been able to cook and rely upon our stovetops [for warmth].鈥�
Still, despite seeing the brighter sides of the situation he鈥檚 dealing with, Teague thinks the rollouts show disparities in Dallas. 鈥淭he one thing that is clear, from being on social media, is that there are specific neighborhoods being affected. And specific neighborhoods that are not being affected,鈥� he said.
鈥淚t is just odd that these rolling blackouts do not seem to be rolling,鈥� Teague said. 鈥淭he blackouts are predominately stuck in neighborhoods like the Cedars.鈥�
That's an observation shared by Lakesha Lowrie, a nurse in Arlington. She lost electricity at 5 a.m. on Monday and her house was at 38 degrees on Tuesday morning.
"I understand the rolling blackouts, I truly do," Lowrie said. "If you're going to do rolling blackouts, roll the black out. Why is it one sector gets over 24 hours electricity and you have other sectors without power the whole time? I'm not understanding the rolling part."
She said her neighbors have also lost power, some even longer than her. She blames all the electric companies who should have come up with answers by now.
Bruce Toplek lives in an apartment near downtown Dallas and figures he's been without power for about 20 hours. His electric-only complex at least has a fireplace, and he's planning to burn some wood later. That might calm the cold but not his frustration.
"Whoever, ONCOR, ERCOT, have not been speaking the truth the last 24 or 36 hours," he said. "They stuck to the rolling blackout line much too long. They certainly have equipment that knows where power is on and off, and how long it's been off. They should have come out and said 'we got problems, here's the situation, sorry we can't do anything about it.'"
Toplek knows more snow is about to fall and he's not sure power companies will fix the problem before that happens.
Got at tip? Email Alejandra Martinez at amartinez@kera.org, Bill Zeeble at bzeeble@kera.org and Hady Mawajdeh at hady@四虎影院.org.
You can follow them on Twitter: Alejandra is @alereports, Bill is @bzeeble and Hady is @HadySauce.
四虎影院 is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making gift today. Thank you.
