Weather thread. (can’t find my nuts)

[UTfish 1,115]

3 hours ago, Sirhornsalot said:

This is my koi pond. It is covered with snow. You can see the bridge going over it, kinda. The waterfall is the stone with all the ice on it.

 

A close up of the waterfall

Nice. Looks like a frozen character from Star Wars now, but I'll bet it looks really good when it thaws. 

BTW, we were just told that we may be out of electricity for another 3 weeks.

[Sirhornsalot 14,503]

2 hours ago, UTfish said:

Nice. Looks like a frozen character from Star Wars now, but I'll bet it looks really good when it thaws. 

BTW, we were just told that we may be out of electricity for another 3 weeks.

Man, I'm sorry to hear that. However, I can tell you they usually fudge on the error side, so it will probably be sooner.

[UTfish 1,115]

11 hours ago, Sirhornsalot said:

Man, I'm sorry to hear that. However, I can tell you they usually fudge on the error side, so it will probably be sooner.

Thanks. I sure hope you're right. 

It was 15 days after Rita before we got power back. We had 17 people staying with us and 15 of them had a stomach virus and it was 95 degrees with no a/c. My generator quit on the 15th day and we got power 3 hours later, thank God. So we've seen worse. 

What this does show, however, is how unprepared people can be for the unexpected. It could be a glimpse of what to expect in the near future, though I sure hope not. 

When this first started, I checked on my neighbors to see if anyone needed anything. All said they were ready. 

Last night, one called and wanted to borrow 5 gallons of gas for his generator. Thankfully, we were able to help this time, but...

[tejasrulz 3,075]

On 2/17/2021 at 6:43 PM, Bear19 said:

For flushing fortunately I have a pool. I have kept the equipment running so that it hasn’t frozen. It’s a 18,000 gallon pool. If I need that much for flushing the toilet then we’re all going to die anyway.

Bear, so I'm assuming based on this statement, you never lost power? If you did, do you have some type of generator to run your pool equipment? If so, what brand and about how much $$?

 

[Coot 67]

Well I was totally unprepared for that. Outside tankless water heater (what a joke) froze up at 10 Sunday night. Electric power went off at 2 am Monday. iPhone battery failed at 3pm Monday. Slept with 3 pair socks + shoes, 2 long johns plus blue jeans, t-shirt, 2 sweaters and overcoat, two knit hats under every blanket I owned doubled and coats piled on top of that. That for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Power back on at 1:05 Thursday. Had to reboot my furnace to get heat going again at 2 pm. I still have water but I won't know about water pipes under house and outside until it thaws out. This certainly has sucked.

[Bear19 3,743]

1 hour ago, tejasrulz said:

Bear, so I'm assuming based on this statement, you never lost power? If you did, do you have some type of generator to run your pool equipment? If so, what brand and about how much $$?

 

tejas

correct I never lost power. I’m relatively close to a prison unit and a fire station and I assume I’m on one of their grids or both.

I have a natural gas generator that will power the house including the pool pumps. I had it put in because of all the outages we have had from hurricanes. Two different occasions we have been out of power for five days. Ike and Rita. Several other times for one or two days with severe weather. had it installed about a year ago and have never used it since. Maybe I was just buying an insurance policy.

I did a lot of research and I think the only natural gas generator to go with is Generac. The cost will range according to the square footage of your house but a general number would be $12 to $15,000.

[UTfish 1,115]

11 minutes ago, Coot said:

Well I was totally unprepared for that. Outside tankless water heater (what a joke) froze up at 10 Sunday night. Electric power went off at 2 am Monday. iPhone battery failed at 3pm Monday. Slept with 3 pair socks + shoes, 2 long johns plus blue jeans, t-shirt, 2 sweaters and overcoat, two knit hats under every blanket I owned doubled and coats piled on top of that. That for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Power back on at 1:05 Thursday. Had to reboot my furnace to get heat going again at 2 pm. I still have water but I won't know about water pipes under house and outside until it thaws out. This certainly has sucked.

Yes, sir. It's no consolation, but you had plenty of company. Don't know whether to laugh at your sleeping gear (which is a lot like mine) or cry for your misery. We only ran the generator all night when it got down to 5 degrees. Otherwise, we run it sparingly to conserve fuel. Gas stations are already out. 

[Sirhornsalot 14,503]

4 hours ago, UTfish said:

Thanks. I sure hope you're right. 

It was 15 days after Rita before we got power back. We had 17 people staying with us and 15 of them had a stomach virus and it was 95 degrees with no a/c. My generator quit on the 15th day and we got power 3 hours later, thank God. So we've seen worse. 

What this does show, however, is how unprepared people can be for the unexpected. It could be a glimpse of what to expect in the near future, though I sure hope not. 

When this first started, I checked on my neighbors to see if anyone needed anything. All said they were ready. 

Last night, one called and wanted to borrow 5 gallons of gas for his generator. Thankfully, we were able to help this time, but...

Well, most folks saw the last five-six years of really having no to little winter. We got complacent.

My dad always taught me that Texas is a place of extremes. Especially the weather. So when we go a while without rain, we usually get it back and get it back fast. When we go without any type of weather, we make up in the harshest of ways.

I had a lower heat unit go out, which put my pipes at risk. Thank God I cut the usual cord of firewood this year, thinking I'd never need that much. But I did it anyway. Fireplace saved me.

I'd like to see our grid addressed when this is done. This should never happen again. If we lose power, it should be because lines were broken, not lack of supply.

On a positive note, my back yard, which still had 8 inches of snow on it last night, is largely melted now with the full sun today. The end is near.

[UTfish 1,115]

31 minutes ago, Sirhornsalot said:

Well, most folks saw the last five-six years of really having no to little winter. We got complacent.

My dad always taught me that Texas is a place of extremes. Especially the weather. So when we go a while without rain, we usually get it back and get it back fast. When we go without any type of weather, we make up in the harshest of ways.

I had a lower heat unit go out, which put my pipes at risk. Thank God I cut the usual cord of firewood this year, thinking I'd never need that much. But I did it anyway. Fireplace saved me.

I'd like to see our grid addressed when this is done. This should never happen again. If we lose power, it should be because lines were broken, not lack of supply.

On a positive note, my back yard, which still had 8 inches of snow on it last night, is largely melted now with the full sun today. The end is near.

Exactly. And we shouldn't get complacent about the dark winter that's been forecasted. It's getting a little more serious here. People are saying they can't get milk or food for their children and the stores are all but empty. 

[Aaron Carrara 3,017]

I hope this finds all of you guys in a warm space.  Wow, what a handful of days it has been.  We finally have power and heat back after 72 hours, but no water.  Everyone hang in there and remember to appreciate the small things - I know this ordeal has taught me to.

[java 2,912]

I am so sorry fellows. I know how miserable it is to lose power. I grew up near Corpus Christi, and we would lose power (and water) for weeks at a time. 

For some reason, we suffered no power losses, and the water has been on the entire time, though we did lose some pressure for a day, so we are under a boil water order.

Our grocery is almost empty, and it has had no water for days. Luckily, I bought a lot of water last week (hurricane protocol), and filled every large container in the house with tap water before we lost pressure.

I have many relatives in Dallas and one in Houston that have been without power, one for the entire time. Some with a variety of broken pipes.

The damage on this will be catastrophic.  I feel for everyone with property loss, but more so for families who lost loved ones.

I knew we weren’t prepared for it, and then I read about other states across the country.  It appears that many weren’t.

The best to all of you and your loved ones.

 

 

 

[java 2,912]

I heard a couple of hours ago that 75-85% of the schools in Katy suffered damage. 

I still don’t know what the damage is, or if there is damage, to our school, but would imagine there is some. 

I will be surprised if we go back to in person instruction on Monday. My thinking is that the school will need a week or two for repairs and cleanup, but that is purely a guess, and we will do online instruction (which I loathe) during that time.

[java 2,912]

Me, too, Fish. 

[Sirhornsalot 14,503]

I have a neighbor about 6 houses down who moved in just about a year ago. Their house caught on fire. Severe damage to the roof and side of his home. He wasn't home when it started. A neighbor behind him called it in. 

I watched the FD fight the fire. They had to cut several holes in the house with chainsaws to make sure there were no embers. The house looked awful the next day.

So I walk down there when I saw his truck at home. I offered to help. As I did, he raised the garage door and there sat a sparkling red 2016 Corvette. It was unscathed. It had pieces of insulation and whatnot on top of it, but not a scratch even through that.

 

[oldhorn2 1,405]

On 2/20/2021 at 12:41 PM, java said:

am so sorry fellows. I know how miserable it is to lose power. I grew up near Corpus Christi, and we would lose power

See there Java...I knew we were kindred spirits...I grew up in Kingsville

[java 2,912]

You don’t live there now, right?

Kingsville has fallen on very hard times. 

We are indeed kindred spirits, oldhorn. South Texans are special. 

   Hook ‘em!