Individual Responsibility in disasters

[miket]

All the while the Coal fired plant at Gibbons Creek sits collecting dust. Been shut down for 2 yrs. Genius ( Obama EPA rule made it untenable-cost for scrubbers too high )

This is what our "leaders" think is best for us. Trust them at your own peril.

[jdg13]

We have no one to blame but ourselves. Our infrastructure is falling apart. Some of it is politicians and greedy companies, a lot of it is people not wanting to pay to fix it. We are fine spending money on stadiums but ask for a bond to fix the lines or pipes and you get laughed at. So now you end up in a situation where things work during "normal" times but you still better be prepared for something to go wrong. Problem is most people, especially in the city are clueless. It's easy to be complacent when you live in a country where luxury is the norm. Instead of taking a little personal responsibility, they just blame the government, the power company, anyone but themselves. It ain't ever going to change.

[Killer]

The elderly, those with disabilities, including marginal cognitive abilities, are not able to plan ahead and prepare for something of this magnitude. It’s wonderful the able bodied folks were able to prepare and endure but what about the less fortunate? Our politicians and bureaucrats have criminally failed us. I do not believe for a minute that officials of the utilities and regulatory agencies didn’t know what would happen if the temperature drastically dropped with accumulations of ice and snow. It’s their job to plan for these eventualities! They set up this disaster when they shutdown coal fired power plants and built wind turbine farms to appease the left. Wind farms that will obviously accumulate ice on the turbine blades shutting down wind generation. Doesn’t take a Harvard grad to predict that. It isn’t a problem of increased Demand on the grid, it’s a problem of decreased Supply. People have died and probably more will die because of bureaucratic decisions and a failure to keep the public informed. It’s predictable that ice accumulation on trees and power lines will cause outages. That’s just bad luck for those affected. It’s also predictable that solar and wind are not ready for prime time with severe cold, ice and snow accumulation. They didn’t forewarn us about this fact and the resultant reduced Supply so more people could prepare.

Water systems are fouled in many areas. Burst pipes will be widespread. Grocery stores can’t open because of power outages. If they can open customers are lined up down the street. Texas has become a third world country and it’s the fault of weak kneed politicians that can’t or won’t stand up to leftist lunacy.

Thank god for all those that came through this stronger and wiser. Condolences for the ones we’ve lost. A sincere thank you to all the people that are working their tails off in terrible conditions trying to get all the utilities back on line. Thank you to everyone that has helped their neighbor. Shame on our inept bureaucrats and politicians that utterly failed us.

Just my opinion.

Lot of truth in this mans statement. A lot of us are willing and able to provide for our family in an event like this. The weaker and elderly not so much. That’s different totally!

[Johnny Dangerr]

We should use this event to plan for the next event.
My generator struggled some. Might get a bigger unit.
My tub does not hold water for 24 hours.
My attic needs more heat.
We are down to a week of food.

I will try to do better next time...........................

[Mission408]

Agreed op. Think we have seen another new tactic by the government to turn us into sheeple and become even more dependant on the government. No thanks im preparing to the degree I can.

[Hooverfb]

I'm in agreement that regardless of outside forces, it's my job to do what I need to for my family. However, let's be honest, alot of "prepping" is not a true solution. Unless you have readily available wood/gas, food, and water, everyone's "prepping" is just prolonging a temporary environment until they can depend on utilities again. As mentioned already, generators dont run forever on thin air. How many people on this forum have land? We see the "wish I could buy that" posts on every land for sale post. I'm all for storing up to buffer against events, but at the end of the day I'd be willing to say 80% of people are ultimately dependent on utilities, maybe more. They just might be able to prolong their lack of need, like a teenager that stole a credit card not realizing theres a limit.

[Maddox]

I think the biggest complaint from people Ive talked to is their anger at the damage to their house from frozen water lines inside and frozen pool equipment.

We, like most here, were prepared. I tested the generator out three days before the storm was supposed to hit to make sure it ran and had plenty of gas on hand. We had plenty of food and water, which is something else - emergency rations for food doesn’t mean what goes in the fridge - dry/canned foods work better - higher in protein and fat the better.

People just cannot take care of themselves anymore.

[Arrowsmith]

We have been pretty hard core self reliant preppers since we retired in Oct. 2018. Our first step was to get the heck out of any big city. We chose our farm in the middle of nowhere Iowa. We are set up to handle pretty much anything other than a nuclear scorched earth attack.

What is scary for Texas is.........

All this stress, angst, worry, fear, and monetary damage was caused by cold air......not a violent hurricane, a powerful tornado or tornadoes or even an earth quake.....just record low cold air temperatures.

This markedly identifies multiple problems with the condition and reliability of the power grid in Texas.

There is probably some terrorist group out there checking a box on this event as a future opportunity to wreak havoc.

Prayers spoken for everyone affected by this storm.

Store what you use and use what you store.

Preppers gonna Prep.

[hpdrifter]

They weren’t turning down the revenue, and yes, demand was much greater than supply. Lots of power plants were already down due to planned or forced outages. Many of the power generating plants weren’t designed for this type of event, causing them to trip. These two things coupled together is what made it so bad. Just as many of our homes weren’t designed for it, and many people are now dealing with costly repairs. The supply just isn’t there, but is slowly coming back.

that's funny, power hasn't been out since about 7 last night. All the news of ERCOT suddenly fixed the grid???

[Big_gun]

we were set up ready to go , then lost power, will know next time as I wasn't thinking of losing power for 60 hours , thank the lord we didnt have any breaks that i have found yet but will enclose the well etc inside my barn and have a 5 gallon propane bottle with heater for it. the house has propane so we had cooking stove and luckily the folks that built it piped in a couple of gas outlets for propane heaters, that saved some wood burning in fireplace. will still look at installing a gas log for fireplace that is also heat source and just fill up the 500 gal propane tank... we dont burn much wood as the fireplace isn't a great efficient heat source. but wood isn't bad alternative. will also cut in an opening in the attic plenum to allow heat into the attic that I can plug. will also invest in a larger generator ( duel fuel or the like) so I can turn on some interior circuits. we were more fortunate them most but can always be more prepared to protect the family a bit more. might be a great new thread for ideas to be more self sufficent in these trying times.

[piercebronkite]

I'm a fort worth fireman and been at work past 2 days. One thing folks on here need to know is we, most of us on here, are different than the general public. We are outdoors people and understand alot of survival and preparations for extended hunts and/or hardships. I deal with people that are clueless in these things and many have had a lifetime of the government providing everything for them, so why should they expect this to be any different.

I left home with plenty of firewood on the porch, gassed up generator and cords on porch for wife to run fireplace fan if needed to heat house. Extra gas cans for it. I do live in the country so generally we are more prepared, plenty of food at all times. I bet 75% or more people couldn't tell me what a generator is if I pointed at it as the vast majority live in cities.

I was prepared but will be better prepared in the future. More firewood even though I can go cut more but not if stuck at fire station.

The government has basically created a dependent society. I also have a huge freezer for food, a shop for all my "stuff", etc....most people have a small freezer on their fridge and a small pantry and no secondary means of cooking if electricity goes out. This is in North texas and coastal people are a little more in tune to losing power for extended times but not at zero temps.

Will people be better prepared next time, some but not most, all blame will be cast on government and utility providers, we are in a society of no self responsibility

Well said.

[TxDispatcher]

I'm a fort worth fireman and been at work past 2 days. One thing folks on here need to know is we, most of us on here, are different than the general public. We are outdoors people and understand alot of survival and preparations for extended hunts and/or hardships. I deal with people that are clueless in these things and many have had a lifetime of the government providing everything for them, so why should they expect this to be any different.

I left home with plenty of firewood on the porch, gassed up generator and cords on porch for wife to run fireplace fan if needed to heat house. Extra gas cans for it. I do live in the country so generally we are more prepared, plenty of food at all times. I bet 75% or more people couldn't tell me what a generator is if I pointed at it as the vast majority live in cities.

I was prepared but will be better prepared in the future. More firewood even though I can go cut more but not if stuck at fire station.

The government has basically created a dependent society. I also have a huge freezer for food, a shop for all my "stuff", etc....most people have a small freezer on their fridge and a small pantry and no secondary means of cooking if electricity goes out. This is in North texas and coastal people are a little more in tune to losing power for extended times but not at zero temps.

Will people be better prepared next time, some but not most, all blame will be cast on government and utility providers, we are in a society of no self responsibility

You said it better than I could have...spot on

We have no one to blame but ourselves. ... We are fine spending money on stadiums but ask for a bond to fix the lines or pipes and you get laughed at.

Yep...nailed it

We have been installing a massive generator here at the house, in preparation for hurricanes. Planning on having RV spots up and running this summer for friends and family to come during storms, after storms while homes are being renovated, etc. We weren't ready for this arctic blast, and that is on us. However, we have plenty of firewood, food, blankets, etc and with 11 of us here for the week, we have done perfectly okay other than the kids being stir crazy inside at night

I think as Beleg mentioned, the thing that aggravates me the most is the elderly who have been suffering through this. Whatever side of the aisle that you're on with this opinion is irrelevant. Facts are that we need to do whatever we can so that the elderly don't deal with their homes interiors being sub 40*. Their bodies aren't able to deal with the cold INSIDE like that, period. And whether its their kids are sorry and don't help them prepare, or they can't make it back home in time to help, isn't relevant. The utilities infrastructure needs addressing, not some 15 minute gripe fest by politicians who don't follow through. Just my opinion

[Texas452]

Well said! We cannot and should not put 100% stock into the energy grids. I've truly become spoiled to the amenities that I have in life. Now after every storm I reflect back to see what I need to do to ensure that I'm prepared for the next. My house is only two years old and two major things I regret not installing was a whole house generator (which now has become a priority) and a wood burning stove.

If I could go back I would put in wood burning stoves instead of fireplaces.
We have one of the glass door hearths from tsc in our cabin and it will heat more with less wood. It doesn’t smoke inside the house and has a damper that once you really learn how to use it is really efficient. Stays warm all night.

[RiverRat1]

What scares me more is do this in the summer and all the freezers go out when it’s 110 outside. Generators are a must as you can’t make cool air like you can heat
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Propane/electric freezer. Expensive but to me worth the peace of mind. I can't imagine people in Texas with no way to keep food cold in the summer.

We should use this event to plan for the next event.
My generator struggled some. Might get a bigger unit.
My tub does not hold water for 24 hours.
My attic needs more heat.
We are down to a week of food.

I will try to do better next time...........................

Mormon food store sells food storage. That's where we stocked up.

I'm still waiting for the event where I get to use my propane freezer.

[friscopaint]

hopefully people will see they can't rely on government at all levels but sadly they will demand more inept government