Winter Storm 2021-02

Between February 13th and 19th the state of Texas experienced a winter storm that brought it to its knees. Power and water went out all over the state, leaving hundreds of thousands of residents challenged to maintain basic necessities. We struggled to stay warm and supplied with food in temperatures that dipped into the single digits, and freezing rain and snow that made travel extremely dangerous. These conditions might not have been a big deal in northern states, but we learned the hard way that Texas infrastructure could not handle them.

Here are some videos I made of my experiences in Forest North Estates during this storm. The first is from Feb 13th in my yard and in the neighborhood:

The second from the 14th is mostly on Lake Creek Trail:

The third video was mostly recorded on February 15, the amazing sunny day after 6 inches of snow the night before. It shows the neighborhood and Lake Creek Trail like I've never seen them. My power went out later that day, and I spent the 16th, 17th, and 18th mostly trying to stay warm by tending a fire in the fireplace and preparing hot meals and coffee on my little Weber grill. By the 19th my power came back on and I recorded a little more to add to this video. Temperatures both inside and outside finally rose and I recorded some of the melting on the 20th as well:

Here's one of the few photos I took while my power was out. I spent lots of time and energy maintaining a fire in my seldom-used fireplace. It raised the temperature in my living room from about 45 to 51. Maybe more importantly, it also raised my morale:

A silver lining of this difficult experience was getting a little closer to my neighbors, accepting some help and giving a bit in return. Here's a dozen fresh eggs from my next-door neighbor's backyard chickens. They helped me stay put at home until the roads were safe and the grocery stores were stocked again.

Here are more photos from the storm on Flickr.

And here's my YouTube channel, in case you're interested in other videos I've created.