Is There No Snowstorm Thread Yet?

AGBF · Feb 18, 2021

Txborn79 said:
Thanks @missy!

Txborn79 said:
Luckily we are in a better position than a lot of people. We have a generator, fireplaces (plenty of firewood for now) and a pool we can pull water from to flush toilets, etc.

I am glad. Please keep us updated on how you fare.

Hugs,
Deb

AnastasiaBeaverhausen · Feb 18, 2021

Snow has started to melt here but still over 100k people without power. Also, news is reporting lots of people having to throw away food that's gone bad

ETA: nm, I misread the headline. The article was actually about a grocery store throwing out their food and then called the cops on people who tried to go dumpster diving. IDK how I feel about this. I mean, if people are desperate for food and willing to take a chance, why not let them?

Arcadian · Feb 18, 2021

AnastasiaBeaverhausen said:
Snow has started to melt here but still over 100k people without power. Also, news is reporting lots of people having to throw away food that's gone bad

ETA: nm, I misread the headline. The article was actually about a grocery store throwing out their food and then called the cops on people who tried to go dumpster diving. IDK how I feel about this. I mean, if people are desperate for food and willing to take a chance, why not let them?

lawsuits

AnastasiaBeaverhausen · Feb 18, 2021

Arcadian said:
lawsuits

Yeah, I know. When I worked at a coffee shop many moons ago, we got a new manager who stopped letting us donate our old pastries because of that reason. She would watch us throw out the trash bag of old pastries into our dumpster every night just to make sure nobody tried to sneak some home. It just sucks knowing there's people in need of food and not being able to let them have it.

Austina · Feb 18, 2021

DS has power, but still no water. He doesn’t think it’ll be back on until at least the weekend. Fortunately the propane tanker got in, so they’ve got heat although they’re keeping it low to conserve stocks.

Arcadian · Feb 18, 2021

Really seriously sad for those who are going through this storm.

Texas as a state needs to get its head out of its rear and not let stuff like this happen again. There is no way that people should be suffering like this.

Txborn79 · Feb 18, 2021

Our power came back on about an hour ago. Just hoping all the tree branches breaking because of the weight of the ice doesn’t cause more damage to the power lines. No update on water, just that they can’t even start making repairs until everything thaws out.

SparklieBug · Feb 18, 2021

My heart goes out to those suffering with the effects of power and water outages. I just saw on the news, a piece about wildlife/zoos dying and suffering in the freezing temps as well. This is especially heartbreaking, as at least humans can understand what's going on.

Matata · Feb 18, 2021

Arcadian said:
Texas as a state needs to get its head out of its rear and not let stuff like this happen again. There is no way that people should be suffering like this.

Yes to this a gazillion times.

Add to that that people need to start living as though a disaster can happen in their area. We've had enough catastrophes the past 2 years that anyone left with the complacent attitude that "nothing has happened here before" should reset their thinking.

We're prepared because we've been told to expect "the big one" earthquake anytime and we experienced terrifying fires Sept. 2020. We have waterproof matches, emergency blankets, camping stove and gas canisters, tons of bottled water, first-aid supplies, battery operated radio, long-burning candles, freeze-dried camping food and a whole host of other things stuffed in our pantry. Scary times.

Cerulean · Feb 18, 2021

So sorry about what is happening in Texas. I have a coworker who has lost touch with his elderly parents in TX - last he knew that had lost power. Very very scary.

Hopefully this is appropriate - but thought I would share some pics from a morning walk in Chicago. More snow has fallen since...luckily s a city we are very prepared, but even here cars are getting stuck and many side streets in my area are not plowed.

Our puppy Milo is certainly enjoying this....he dive bombs into snow drifts and loves to eat snow....it is ranging from 2-3.5ft deep in our neighborhood depending on snow drifts!

canuk-gal · Feb 18, 2021

AnastasiaBeaverhausen said:
Yeah, I know. When I worked at a coffee shop many moons ago, we got a new manager who stopped letting us donate our old pastries because of that reason. She would watch us throw out the trash bag of old pastries into our dumpster every night just to make sure nobody tried to sneak some home. It just sucks knowing there's people in need of food and not being able to let them have it.

What madness. Makes me sad.

Missy · Feb 19, 2021

Snow dragon.

Missy · Feb 19, 2021

Samson going for his 3AM snack despite the snowy freezing conditions. Woohoo Samson you go boy.

Arcadian · Feb 19, 2021

Matata said:
Yes to this a gazillion times.

Add to that that people need to start living as though a disaster can happen in their area. We've had enough catastrophes the past 2 years that anyone left with the complacent attitude that "nothing has happened here before" should reset their thinking.

We're prepared because we've been told to expect "the big one" earthquake anytime and we experienced terrifying fires Sept. 2020. We have waterproof matches, emergency blankets, camping stove and gas canisters, tons of bottled water, first-aid supplies, battery operated radio, long-burning candles, freeze-dried camping food and a whole host of other things stuffed in our pantry. Scary times.

I've already started to prepare for hurricane season but you'd be amazed by those that don't. Covid I think forced people to rethink their behavior about not having some food stuffs on hand. Maybe not enough to stick because people still panic buy like crazy.

I'm shopping soup sales right now because frankly canned soup is expensive (in my area over 3.00/can but its better when you go get BOGO!!), that can save you and you don't have to worry about refrigeration or, heaven forbid, if you had no way to actually cook anything. I've done many a cold can of soup living in Massachusetts during blizzards

. Doing so in hurricane alley, not much different! At each sale I do 12 cans at BOGO until I reach capacity(meaning I fill up that cubby which is about 50 cans) if we had to, its 25 meals each right there.

The biggest worry is those who can't afford to have food stuffs or even have the space. And its chronic is many minority areas.

Matata · Feb 19, 2021

@Arcadian, I hear ya. We have tab top soup cans and tuna packets on hand at all times. When we had to evacuate our house due to wildfires on Sept. 8, it was eye opening to find that we were not as prepared as we thought in terms of the time it would take to get everything in our cars. Our emergency warning system failed and we had 15 minutes to load as much as we could. The only thing I cared about was saving the cats and by the time they were loaded into their crates and in the cars, there was little time left for other things.

AnastasiaBeaverhausen · Feb 19, 2021

Arcadian said:
I've already started to prepare for hurricane season but you'd be amazed by those that don't. Covid I think forced people to rethink their behavior about not having some food stuffs on hand. Maybe not enough to stick because people still panic buy like crazy.

I'm shopping soup sales right now because frankly canned soup is expensive (in my area over 3.00/can but its better when you go get BOGO!!), that can save you and you don't have to worry about refrigeration or, heaven forbid, if you had no way to actually cook anything. I've done many a cold can of soup living in Massachusetts during blizzards . Doing so in hurricane alley, not much different! At each sale I do 12 cans at BOGO until I reach capacity(meaning I fill up that cubby which is about 50 cans) if we had to, its 25 meals each right there.

The biggest worry is those who can't afford to have food stuffs or even have the space. And its chronic is many minority areas.

Totally. The whole "have at least 2 weeks worth of emergency supplies" or "6 months of emergency savings" is sadly a pipedream for many folks.

Austina · Feb 19, 2021

DS has been told the water should be back on today, but as there’s another freeze over night, he’s not turning the water back on in to the house until tomorrow.

Calliecake · Feb 19, 2021

That’s good news @Austina. I’m glad Adam, Kim and Bertie have been doing as well as can be expected thru this. Bertie was rescued at the perfect time. I’m sure he has been very good at helping Kim and Adam stay warm.

@Bayek, I’ve been thinking of you and your family and hoping you are all safe. Hopefully everything will get back to normal soon once this crisis is over and you get your second doses of the vaccine. You have a very fun summer to look forward to with Autie. I also hope Kath is feeling better and the procedure helped her. You two have been friends for many many years. She knows how much you care about her.