As we all know this past week there was a series of extremely cold nights that had hit Houston in a sudden snowstorm that the city had been completely unprepared for. But now that we are starting to recover from the damages it would be good a time to focus on what went wrong. To start you have to ask yourself a single question of whether or not Texas was prepared. The answer is somewhat unclear, for instance, I had begun stockpiling as soon as I heard of the incoming snowstorm along with my neighbors as well. There were also reputable newspaper stations warning of the oncoming winter storm as early as February 12.

However, this did not prepare everyone, especially with the approximate 2.31 million population in Houston, the fourth-largest city in the United States, storming stores for extensive numbers of resources. The majority of the same people not only lacked food and water, but also electricity and heat throughout the winter storm. This is a direct result of the extreme winter temperatures that had caused the sudden surge of energy demand to heat homes and use air conditioners, breaking down the electricity grids under the load. This can be coupled with the fact that the United States’ national power grid had been built in 1938 and was not meant to operate under extreme changes in temperature. Consequently, causing a breakdown of some mainline generators that shorted the whole system and cost power to some 4.51 million Texans for a few days. These main generators had also powered water boilers that sterilized the drinking water for some Texans depriving people of both water, heat, and electricity altogether.

Fortunately, things had started to improve after one week, but there was still an unpredictable hiccup during the process of recovering. This would be the burst pipes that were apparent around the city, which water mains and pipes were broken open by the frozen water that spewed all over due to the warming temperatures exposing the cracks. I myself also had to deal with a burst pipe within my family’s garage that had split open and soaked the drywall lining the inside of our garage. This was an unfortunate and expensive situation that many others around me had also faced. Overall, it was an extremely unfortunate accident that no one could have predicted and cities across Texas remain strong within its community for easing the recovery process.

Lozano, J. (2021, February 12). Texas officials worry about the dangers of the winter storms. Retrieved March 04, 2021, from https://apnews.com/article/houston-storms-texas-hurricanes-8c0fc8bc629d5ae223a44f0d8f92a119

Koenig, D., & Liedtke, M. (2021, February 17). EXPLAINER: Why the power GRID failed in Texas and beyond. Retrieved March 04, 2021, from https://apnews.com/article/why-texas-power-grid-failed-2eaa659d2ac29ff87eb9220875f23b34#:~:text=WHAT%20HAPPENED%20IN%20TEXAS%3F,conditioners%20run%20at%20full%20tilt.

Martin, C., Wade, W., & Chediak, M. (2020, January 31). America’s Power Grid. Retrieved March 04, 2021, from https://www.bloomberg.com/quicktake/u-s-electrical-grid