This winters' infrastructure catastrophe in Texas

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

You can bet even money that the reason systems were not cold weather insulated was due to the extra cost.

I looked at some climate charts of Texas. While this winter though really is exceptional, it's quite possible in a normal winter that the temperature goes at least down a few days to regions where water starts freezing.

So having an infrastructure unprepared for this, even in Texas, is careless.

 

[Essence Lumin]

That last picture is the Korean Peninsula.

File:Korean Peninsula at night from space.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

commons.wikimedia.org

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

That last picture is the Korean Peninsula.

File:Korean Peninsula at night from space.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

commons.wikimedia.org

And intentional, I'm sure.

 

[Free]

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

Texans are running out of food because of the disruption of supply chain, producing images formerly only known from countries like USSR:
“It was out of meat, eggs and almost all milk before I left,” Cristal Porter, an Austin resident, said about her local Target which she visited Monday. “Lines were wrapped around the store when we arrived. … Shelves were almost fully cleared for potatoes, meat, eggs and some dairy.”

Dairy products are running out, which is an unfun chain of events because in the cow's udders there's more than enough right now:
“All of the milk processing plants are full, they can’t get enough electricity to run, and if they could, they can’t get enough natural gas to pasteurize the milk,” Miller said. “So grocery store shelves are basically empty. There’s no dairy products flowing to Kroger or H-E-B or places like that, so we’re as bad as it was when COVID hit, could possibly get worse.”

Food banks are having a hard time: “The Food Bank’s fleet, equipment, facilities and operations have been adversely impacted by the extremely low temperatures, and hazardous road conditions are hindering our staff and volunteers from getting to our building safely,” the organization announced in a media alert. “These conditions are also keeping us from distributing food safely.”

Texans running out of food during power outage, weather crisis

Texans running low on food are finding empty grocery store shelves. Food pantries are running out of supplies. And the freeze has wiped out substantial portions of the state's citrus and vegetable crops.

www.texastribune.org

Also lots of cold stunned turtles get rescued from Texan waters.

 

[Aribeth Zelin]

I looked at some climate charts of Texas. While this winter though really is exceptional, it's quite possible in a normal winter that the temperature goes at least down a few days to regions where water starts freezing.

So having an infrastructure unprepared for this, even in Texas, is careless.

Okay, so... its not about climate change. I live in northern Florida, we get a winter every year - not a lot of days, but there is always a freeze, we've had several this year.

IIRC, oranges need a freeze to come out right - they grow those south of here.

Texas - well, Austin is right about in line with us. The North end of Texas is in line with the NC/Virginia border.

I'm sorry, but they have to get weather. What it is, half the state is south of here, though not as far south as Miami.... But look at weather patterns, the snow might not be normal, but the cold.... yeah, don't buy it, not for the whole state. [They also get weather extremes the other way, there is a reason I will not live there - I hate hot.]

 

[Free]

Any reason to poke the asshole.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

I'm sorry, but they have to get weather. What it is, half the state is south of here, though not as far south as Miami.... But look at weather patterns, the snow might not be normal, but the cold.... yeah, don't buy it, not for the whole state. [They also get weather extremes the other way, there is a reason I will not live there - I hate hot.]

Precisely that's my opinion what I've been saying: even without climate change there are weather conditions at least someout during the year when stuff can start freezing in Texas. So if you want to maintain the service level uptime of your infrastructure this means that you've got to implement measures to maintain it.

Climate change though and this historical winter event just drastically exposed the fragility of these infrastructural joints and links to the maximum. But it's no excuse for not having it already before.

 

[Aribeth Zelin]

Precisely that's my opinion what I've been saying: even without climate change there are weather conditions at least someout during the year when stuff can start freezing in Texas. So if you want to maintain the service level uptime of your infrastructure this means that you've got to implement measures to maintain it.

Climate change though and this historical winter event just drastically exposed the fragility of these infrastructural joints and links to the maximum. But it's no excuse for not having it already before.

Yes, I'm not saying that climate change isn't real - but when half the state is already going to have a winter; and when for the last 30-40 years winters were getting milder, or harsher...

Its greed.

 

[Free]

Its greed.

And stupidity.

 

[Sid]

Investing in public infrastructure is so important.
As long as most Americans think tax and regulation are among the most evil curse words in the universe, these things will keep happening.

 

[Rose Karuna]

THREAD!

they can get into the pull top cans just fine, but the ones that require an opener? their only can opener is electric. so a good 3/4 of his canned food store is inaccessible to him unless he goes after it with a knife, which i sincerely hope he does.

 

[Romana]

Yes, I'm not saying that climate change isn't real - but when half the state is already going to have a winter; and when for the last 30-40 years winters were getting milder, or harsher...

Its greed.

If I understood what I read correctly, it's the weather patterns that climate change affects that might be in play there. Life the reason we had so many hurricanes last year we ran out of letters and had to start over, and there are more named winter storms, too.
So I read it as Texas would have had the temperature but the storm would have been less severe.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

Precisely that's my opinion what I've been saying: even without climate change there are weather conditions at least someout during the year when stuff can start freezing in Texas. So if you want to maintain the service level uptime of your infrastructure this means that you've got to implement measures to maintain it.

Climate change though and this historical winter event just drastically exposed the fragility of these infrastructural joints and links to the maximum. But it's no excuse for not having it already before.

Texas is really fucking big. About twice the area of Germany. What is unusual here is that all of Texas is getting hammered at the same time. Usually, if Houston gets a big storm, West Texas probably has normal weather (and as lots of wind and solar) and the Big Bend (southern border region) can also send power. This weather pattern is hitting all of Texas at once, so they can't shuffle power between regions.

 

[Soen Eber]

If I understood what I read correctly, it's the weather patterns that climate change affects that might be in play there. Life the reason we had so many hurricanes last year we ran out of letters and had to start over, and there are more named winter storms, too.
So I read it as Texas would have had the temperature but the storm would have been less severe.

The jet stream normally keeps the arctic temps constrained in the north, but with climate change, they start getting like more and more loose and loopy like the lower Mississippi where it bends around like crazy.

As an analogy, you're eating an ice cream cone. If it's 70 F (25c) out, all is fine, but kick it up to 90F (36c) it starts dripping onto your hand.

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

 

[Caete]

I looked at some climate charts of Texas. While this winter though really is exceptional, it's quite possible in a normal winter that the temperature goes at least down a few days to regions where water starts freezing.

So having an infrastructure unprepared for this, even in Texas, is careless.

True in the northern part of the state, snow is part of the yearly ritual. Those of us in the southern part, south of Houston even, snow is rarely seen and when it is, it is usually melted away by lunch time. I can recall snow two times previous here and we never had issues like this time. Icy roads yes, high winds temps below freezing but that was it. Usually we have lots of cold and some rains with ice.

We are in agreement that this is a serious lack of preparedness on ercot's side despite advance warning to stage assets to handle this.

 

[Caete]

Who doesn't have a p38 can opener on their key chain? Or a Swiss army knife with a can opener? Or a screwdriver? Multitools have them Or doesn't know the trick of scraping the can bottom on a rough surface to abrade the metal away and open it? Or, gasp buy a manual opener from any dollar store...

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

Sounds like a good project name for a nuclear power plant... or fusion power prototype.

 

[Pamela]

So, about that idea of Texas seceding from the Union and going it alone, free from interference by extreme socialist radical Democrats. Still an attractive and viable option?

Please remember that close to half the state is blue. The problem is the Rs have gerrymandered and cheated their way to total power, and do not reflect the will of millions.