I have been noticing with some alarm the extreme cold weather across the southern part of the United States.
The air with the extreme chill is a location where they are not prepared for extreme chill. They rarely get these low temperatures. I saw some temperatures with lower than minus 20 C. I would find that very cold if I had to stay outside and I'm used to cold and have winter clothing. I can only imagine the discomfort these people are going through. Everything is stacked against them: extreme cold, no electricity, no water, no heat, no food.
Houses cool off quickly when the power is off. When the power is off most other things are off too.
All the power lines in my city are underground. We get power outages but not from weather. Our water lines are a minimum of 8 feet underground. We still get pipes freezing.
So I feel very badly for the people suffering through the brutal cold in the United States. I hope they all survive and that the weather changes quickly.
It's a really sad situation to the south of us. I read today that the houses are not insulated either against the cold so it makes it that much worse. People are now burning anything made of wood just to keep warm. Some people are trying to keep warm in other unsafe ways.
ReplyDeleteThey have conditions that would make us very uncomfortable.
DeleteThe past two weeks there has really been some extreme weather in the U.S. Texas has it really bad with no power or water in many areas. I heard that 73% of the U.S. was covered in snow at the same time. It is almost unheard of here to have that much at the same time. We've had two weeks of snow almost every day and sub 0 temperatures. This past week we had "rolling blackouts" for most of the week because the extended extreme cold stressed the power grid. We are hoping to get above freezing this weekend for the first time in a long time! Maybe the cold spell is finally breaking. I sure hope so for the southern states especially.
ReplyDeleteJust to make you feel better my high today was plus 6 C. They have had a very big challenge.
DeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteIt is really sad. The government officials were warned 10 years ago, this could happen. They care more about making a profit. Take care, enjoy your weekend!
Deregulation is a poison pill. They add in many unknowns.
DeleteI think the worst of the cold is now past, but the broken pipes and lack of water to drink is awful! I'm watching the news with sadness, too.
ReplyDeleteThey are also short of food. the whole thing is very stressful for people.
DeleteAnd, of course, it has become political.
ReplyDeleteIt's the old blame game.
DeleteThere have been some horrible deaths from hypothermia there. It is so sad. We often don’t realize how our lives are adapted to the cold in this country.
ReplyDeleteAs I often see we have learned to live with the cold. We know that we have to be ready for the cold.
DeleteIt looks like warmer weather is heading their way. Hopefully, they will learn from this event and improve their power grid so this won't happen again. It has been rough-going for them.
ReplyDeleteSadly they have more things to learn than just their power grid.
DeleteIt's hard to imagine the pain and suffering this cold weather has brought to so many people. No heat, no water, no power. It will be a huge relief when this ends.
ReplyDeleteNot much food either. It will also take time to recover from a lot of this...fix pipes and more.
DeleteYou said it -- it's different when people aren't prepared for such extremes. Houses and utilities in Texas aren't made for this kind of weather, and people don't have clothing for it!
ReplyDeleteThey just don't have any living experience with the cold.
DeleteIt's one thing being miserable when it is pleasant outside and a totally different thing to be cold and miserable. I have several groups of relatives in Texas that are affected but they seem to be making lemonade out of the situation.
ReplyDeleteMany don't even have a chance to make lemonade. They're just lucky to be alive.
DeleteThanks Red, We were some of the lucky ones. The coldest morning our outside temp at the house was 2.2 F, (-16.5 C) but was still 57 F, (13.8 C) inside. Our power would go on and off as it was shared with other areas. Our shortest, "on," time was 30 minutes. On Average we had 1 hour to 1.5 hours of on time each cycle. That was enough to cook something light, quickly, and for the house to heat up a bit. We are north of Dallas, Texas city center about 35 miles. We did have a frozen pipe but we were able to thaw it out without damage. We are all back up and running again.
ReplyDeleteNone of it should have happened, but I won't get into that. This mornings low as 30 F (-1 C) and our high today is predicted to be 48 F (8.8 C) In the middle of it all, when it was so cold and snow was covering everything, migrating birds came through, hundreds of them. There were robins I recognized and a similar sized black bird with grey breast I have no idea about. The ate everyone of the little red berries off the tree out front. It was delightful to see them and a real harbinger to better thing to come.
:)
Tom
Thanks for giving a first hand description of your experience. You knew what to do to protect yourself. As for birds...I'm a birder, we have some robins that stay all winter here. They are tough birds.
DeleteI feel so awful for those Texans too. I've just read that El Paso did not have much of a problem with the cold because they were on a different power grid and were prepared.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter in Illinois is having a huge problem with ice damming and leaks in the house along with the neighbors. Looks like the insurance company will have to be called again after just dealing with the terrible hail they had about a year ago.
Ice dams and leaks are not funny. Much can be destroyed. I haven't heard anything from my daughter and I hope she's okay.
DeleteThe winter can be a terrible season if your not prepared. Hopefully, they will get the help they need plus some warmer weather.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised that crews from other states didn't come in to help out.
DeleteIt does sound like a warming trend started coming down there to give them some relief and time to work getting things sorted.
ReplyDeleteIt will take a while before they get everything up and running.
DeleteIt's been a terrible winter down there where this is not anticipated.
ReplyDeleteAnticipated is good word to use for the situation.
DeleteUnfortunately they have not all survived. It impacts so much worse there because this weather is an anomaly. They usually don't need to have the extreme weather clothing. Many don't own any. The pictures are horrifying.
ReplyDeleteHi Red, Your kindness comes through again sharing your concern with the suffering millions are enduring in the South. It looks to me like nature is trying to tell us humans something and we are not good listeners. We better wake up to what we are doing to the environment. I join you in the hope for survival. John
ReplyDeleteIt is a terrible, if self-inflicted situation.
ReplyDelete