On February 13 Texas, a state with an average annual snowfall of .1 inches a year, was hit with a massive snow and ice storm. Millions of Texans lost power for several days. With no heat, people huddled around fireplaces and in cars to stay warm. 

The state was largely unprepared for the weather that they were experiencing. Just like when the COVID- 19 pandemic hit, the shelves of many stores were bare of the essentials. There was also a shortage of safe drinking water. Pipes froze and burst, and lots of houses were damaged by water and fires, leaving some families without homes. 

 The state of Texas is on its own power grid, so when they could not get power or gas to their state, it caused catastrophic problems. Texas is a state that likes to do things on its own and does not like to have help from other states. Because of this and cutting corners, they were out of power when the snow storm came. They didn’t want to be subjected to federal regulations, so they decided to go off on their own interconnected grid to avoid regulators. 

It is a rare occurrence for Texas to get massive snow storms and have temperatures below freezing. In fact, the temperatures during this storm were record lows not seen in the state for decades. 

In addition to infrastructure problems, the storm brought on political issues. Texas’s state senator, Ted Cruz, left the state in a time of crisis to take himself and his family to Cancun so that they could escape the winter weather. Meanwhile, millions of Texans went without power, food, water and essential resources for extended amounts of time. 

Wind turbines are a large source for Texas’s energy. With the freezing temperatures and precipitation during the storm, the turbines froze and were unable to produce power. They could have been winterized to easily function in sub temperature, but the Texas turbines were left exposed, causing problems when the weather hit. Gas lines were another primary reason for the power outage, because, again, the lines froze due to lack of winterization. When all of this hit Texas and caused the damage, many people came to the realization that the state is simply not prepared for weather events like this.

As Texas is picking up again and trying to come out of the damage the storm caused, there has been a shortage of plumbers and people in the trades who can do the repairs and construction needed. There is also a shortage of supplies that are needed to do the work. Now that Texas has experienced a massive winter storm, hopefully they will work to prepare themselves better for the next time something like this happens.