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Texas deep freeze carnage thread


immamac

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I am not sure why ours went down last night at 2 AM.  But it just kicked on about 30 minutes ago.   57 degrees in house sucked. 

I noticed just this morning that even a block or two east of us had no power. Ours just came back after about 45 minutes. We’ve been very fortunate to the point that I feel like an ass hole. If they’re rolling that power to those who have been without or to critical infrastructure, I hope it continues.

Supposedly a water broke at 34th/Shepherd which is why our area hasn’t had water. I have no idea the timetable on fixing that, and of course we’ll be boiling well into next week at best.
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58 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

I don't think water main pressure hitting obstructions like an ice plug is going to bust anything.

The problem is when water is trapped between something solid, like that end cap, and an expanding/forming plug of ice. That 10% reduction in volume from the freezing ice (already frozen doesn't count) and the resulting increase in hydrostatic pressure is what gets you.

I am gonna guess you are safe to just leave stuff open until pressure returns.

You’re probably right but we aren’t likely to get it back for a while so I guess better safe than sorry.

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21 minutes ago, lockport said:

Yeah that's what I was trying to do. As far as I'm aware that's where the shutoff valve is, I don't see one inside the house. I've never had to shut it off before. 

how old is your house?  check the garage walls down low.  my 1990's house had it on the back wall of the garage.

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7 minutes ago, BrazilHorn said:

Just got power back. My house is 42 degrees inside. Holy shit. I am at hotel for tonight and will see if power being on holds with new storm coming in.

now this is how you 2021 Texas Winter shitshow boys...get hotel room and monitor house over the interwebs.

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My side of the family seems to be unscathed so far, in Williamson, other than plant life. 
wife’s family in north tarrant seems to be having trouble. None of them apparently did anything to protect their home. SIL I’m colleyville had a water heater line break in her attic above the kitchen. Her pool plumbing is still tbd. BIL in westlake has a fire suppression system in his fancy house...that’s plumbed in the attic. That’s toast.  Same with his daughter in I think southlake.  Maybe money dulls you to proactivity- they didn’t know they should have done anything. 

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12 minutes ago, BrazilHorn said:

Just got power back. My house is 42 degrees inside. Holy shit. I am at hotel for tonight and will see if power being on holds with new storm coming in.

I hope you shut off your water if your power/heat is back on an you aren’t there.  Mine burst and leaked when thawed, neighbor across the street had a water heater burst and thawed after power came back on and they had left for some reason.  Flooded whole house, ruined all floors and parts of the walls.

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39 minutes ago, Nivek said:

I am not sure why ours went down last night at 2 AM.  But it just kicked on about 30 minutes ago.   57 degrees in house sucked. 

I would kill for 57 degrees. Our family celebrated like it was Christmas when the T-stat ticked up from 43F to 44F this afternoon. 

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7 minutes ago, davidg said:

I hope you shut off your water if your power/heat is back on an you aren’t there.  Mine burst and leaked when thawed, neighbor across the street had a water heater burst and thawed after power came back on and they had left for some reason.  Flooded whole house, ruined all floors and parts of the walls.

I did. Opened faucets in house to bleed out and then turned water off at main. Hopefully things will work out. Already have appointment scheduled for plumber just to get in front of issues.

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3 minutes ago, Hate said:

Finally back online.  We lost power for 32 hours.  The water plant for our subdivision froze so we didn't have water either.  Once we had power and water, we had a pipe burst in out ceiling so we don't have water again.  We just had to go to the MIL's house just to shower.  Yesterday when I was turning the water off at the street I heard a faint cry for help.  I looked around and saw a lady sitting in her driveway.  She had fallen and couldn't get up. Her family was inside and couldn't hear her calling for help.  I opened their door and yelled for the husband to come get her, but he was moving in slow motion for some reason.  He seemed more annoyed than concerned. They are Russian so maybe they just react to situations differently than others.  I helped he up and that when we realized she had broken her leg.  It was dangling from about 3 inches above her ankle.  It hadn't broken the skin, but it was definitely just flopping around.  They put her in the car and drove her to the hospital.  It's been a crazy last few days.  I can't go back and read this whole thread so I hope everyone here is at least safe and warm.

Damn dude. 

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Just now, BrazilHorn said:

I did. Opened faucets in house to bleed out and then turned water off at main. Hopefully things will work out. Already have appointment scheduled for plumber just to get in front of issues.

Make sure you turn on your outside faucets before the water turns back on. That's where mine burst is on a pipe run through the attic to an outside faucet that also feeds the pool.  That was probably the coldest part of my house when we didn't have power.  I think if I had opened it up, we would have been fine.  It didn't even dawn on me to do that as I have it wrapped pretty good.  I would open every faucet you have to make sure and blocks have a way to be relieved.

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4 minutes ago, Hate said:

Finally back online.  We lost power for 32 hours.  The water plant for our subdivision froze so we didn't have water either.  Once we had power and water, we had a pipe burst in out ceiling so we don't have water again.  We just had to go to the MIL's house just to shower.  Yesterday when I was turning the water off at the street I heard a faint cry for help.  I looked around and saw a lady sitting in her driveway.  She had fallen and couldn't get up. Her family was inside and couldn't hear her calling for help.  I opened their door and yelled for the husband to come get her, but he was moving in slow motion for some reason.  He seemed more annoyed than concerned. They are Russian so maybe they just react to situations differently than others.  I helped he up and that when we realized she had broken her leg.  It was dangling from about 3 inches above her ankle.  It hadn't broken the skin, but it was definitely just flopping around.  They put her in the car and drove her to the hospital.  It's been a crazy last few days.  I can't go back and read this whole thread so I hope everyone here is at least safe and warm.

Sorry you had to go through all of that.  We used to practically be neighbors.

 

I am grateful you were able to help the lady!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Godspeed everyone.   Be there for each other.   Hate's gonna damage his reputation.

 

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2 minutes ago, Hate said:

Make sure you turn on your outside faucets before the water turns back on. That's where mine burst is on a pipe run through the attic to an outside faucet that also feeds the pool.  That was probably the coldest part of my house when we didn't have power.  I think if I had opened it up, we would have been fine.  It didn't even dawn on me to do that as I have it wrapped pretty good.  I would open every faucet you have to make sure and blocks have a way to be relieved.

Good call. I will head to house in morning and do that. Did you open full throttle or at trickle?

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Update:

Had a great three or four hours at my future in-laws powered house, took a hot shower. Came back to my estate, can make it another day just by getting that three or four hour break. One day at A time, right?

about 10 minutes ago wife and I were eating dinner and heard a beep just like you hear when the power supposed to come on but it didn't. However we got a notice saying they're trying to get us power now. I know sometimes it's hard to get the circuitry restarted and I have no idea even if we get it how long will have it but I'll take anything at this point. Working on about 40 hours now which I know is not much compared to others but we hope we get it.

if I get power and can lead at least a half normal life I'll type A weather forecast out. For now all I can say is this next storm will mainly impact south of I-10 although Austin will get a brush with it. Of course the way the weather has gone the last week we'll probably get 42in. and minus 10 temperatures but I'm hopeful this one will generally miss us the worst. Yeah, sure phd, right..

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9 minutes ago, BrazilHorn said:

Good call. I will head to house in morning and do that. Did you open full throttle or at trickle?

I didn't open and that's the pipe that burst.  All the other pipes had either thawed or drained.  I thought since it was on the ground floor that the pipe was through the slab.  It wasn't. 

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I was able to get my shower heads going, as well as a toilet and cold water line on a sink. Still can’t get the hot water line to that sink running.

Team no drip outside faucets, and will leave them at least until Saturday or Sunday unless I spot a leak.

I also have a fire sprinkler system in the house. Not much I can do about it. I believe the pipes are steel, so hopefully they handle the pressure better than copper. We shall see...

Have intermittent power and regular water, so I can’t really complain.

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Why the FUCK isn't Austin Water, ERCOT, and the power companies providing frequent, detailed updates on where service is interrupted and when people can expect to be back online?!!?!?!?!?!?

 

We have no water.  That's a pretty fucking essential service.  And there's been FUCK ALL from the Austin Water as to when we will have water again.  This storm may have been slightly colder than expected but these motherfuckers knew it was coming.  Heads need to roll ALL AROUND.

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11 minutes ago, Snake Diggity said:

Why the FUCK isn't Austin Water, ERCOT, and the power companies providing frequent, detailed updates on where service is interrupted and when people can expect to be back online?!!?!?!?!?!?

 

We have no water.  That's a pretty fucking essential service.  And there's been FUCK ALL from the Austin Water as to when we will have water again.  This storm may have been slightly colder than expected but these motherfuckers knew it was coming.  Heads need to roll ALL AROUND.

They don’t know man. They don’t know shit. These are just monkeys fucking footballs at this point. 

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Fire department running around everywhere dealing with 500 plus water pipe issues on top of other issues. On the local news tonite they said it takes 24 hours to test for bacterium in the water that would constitute a water boil notice. I would as another poster suggested consider all water to be bad unless told otherwise. Jmo. But I am not a city official. It just seems safer that way. I have no water going on 60 plus hours so what do I know? Lol.

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Need advice on what to do next. Our washing machine cold water hose cracked and filled up 1/4 of the tub of the machine with water. It then also sprayed the back area behind the machine. I was able to shut off the hose at the taps and disconnect the hoses from the back of the machine. I can stick the hoses in the drain pipe. Should I crack the lines open to get a trickle going? There isn't an issue with the copper pipes being frozen, that much I can tell. It was spilling water out at a good rate. I just don't want to risk a crack in the walls overnight and through Friday. 

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2 hours ago, gmr548 said:

Luck ran out on power in Oak Forest. We live a couple blocks from a fire station so that had been keeping us on, we assume. Hopefully power is rolling to those who have been out the longest and not a sign of a worsening power failure

We just got power for the first time since middle of Sunday night (other than a very short break Mon night/Tues morning). Montrose area.  And I hear River Oaks is getting back online for the first time since Sunday night. So hopefully just a rolling blackout. 

Edited by Planet Houston
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Hey @Troph we're neighbors!  We live on TC Circle.  Just finished turning the water off on the City side manhole.  All pressure dropped to zero inside the house but I noticed the hose bib closest to the street still had water flow.  I double checked the City valve and sure enough had turned it 180 the wrong direction.  Could have been bad if I hadn't double checked everything.   Good to have you as a neighbor.  Let me know if you need anything.

1 hour ago, troph said:

You’re probably right but we aren’t likely to get it back for a while so I guess better safe than sorry.

 

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Fire department running around everywhere dealing with 500 plus water pipe issues on top of other issues. On the local news tonite they said it takes 24 hours to test for bacterium in the water that would constitute a water boil notice. I would as another poster suggested consider all water to be bad unless told otherwise. Jmo. But I am not a city official. It just seems safer that way. I have no water going on 60 plus hours so what do I know? Lol.
The news is a little off. You automatically go into boil water notice when certain conditions present, such as low system pressure. The 24 hr bac-t test is used as a confirmation test that it either is or isn't present, so minimum boil notice duration is 24 hours
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19 minutes ago, mdmost said:

Need advice on what to do next. Our washing machine cold water hose cracked and filled up 1/4 of the tub of the machine with water. It then also sprayed the back area behind the machine. I was able to shut off the hose at the taps and disconnect the hoses from the back of the machine. I can stick the hoses in the drain pipe. Should I crack the lines open to get a trickle going? There isn't an issue with the copper pipes being frozen, that much I can tell. It was spilling water out at a good rate. I just don't want to risk a crack in the walls overnight and through Friday. 

I just went through something similar pre-freeze. Is the machine against an exterior wall?  
 

I would put them in the drain just in case. Can’t hurt. 

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So what's up with this energy spot price? I am on CPS, so it looks like they have some kind of variable model, but there is no way they expect middle class families to manage a several thousand dollar electric bill, right? This appears to be ERCOT's massive mistake, so no way should Texas citizens have to pay the bulk of it out of their pocket directly.

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The energy companies are gonna have a Funtime collecting from thousands of municipalities who refuse to pay because millions of Texans can’t pay.  They can go get fucked 

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6 minutes ago, Eastwood said:

So what's up with this energy spot price? I am on CPS, so it looks like they have some kind of variable model, but there is no way they expect middle class families to manage a several thousand dollar electric bill, right? This appears to be ERCOT's massive mistake, so no way should Texas citizens have to pay the bulk of it out of their pocket directly.

Oh. You want a corporate conglomerate to take the hit?  I mean, maybe, in 15-20 years after it’s gone through the courts a dozen times. Until then, let’s all bend over and take it up the ass. 

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4 hours ago, troph said:

ok so if we have no water (pressure gone, pipes drained, faucets open (upstairs/downstairs/outside), should we turn off the main so that when pressure returns it doesn't smack through ice pockets in the pipes where residual water was that later froze?  does that make sense?  turn off the main or just wait for pressure to return?  faucets are open btw and we have power.

Shut off the main valve.

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My own family is sorta fucked - my parents in east Texas never lost power and water (gee having a grid shared with other states works, what a novel concept) so no issues there. My brother’s upstairs collapsed to his downstairs after three pipes burst. They have a lake house that looks destroyed and inhibitable without serious reconstruction-the walls have caved in.   

Yet reading all your posts is the saddest shit ever and makes me furious that no one will pay for this (needless) catastrophe. I wish I could help you all. Godspeed. Bright side i guess is it’s likely more than halfway through the crisis. 

 

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42 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

I just went through something similar pre-freeze. Is the machine against an exterior wall?  
 

I would put them in the drain just in case. Can’t hurt. 

Yes.  I went ahead and put both hoses into the drain line and started a pencil lead sized stream. Hopefully it's enough to keep the wall pipes from freezing. I'm okay with the washing machine hose biting the dust. We had planned to replace the washer and dryer soon anyway. I'm more worried about a burst behind the wall that would be more difficult to fix. 

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Yeah, an electric resistance heater is really efficient  in that 1W in is close to 1W out in heat.  Burning natural gas is not quite as efficient.  But, it doesn't use that 1W of electricity.


You can get a 98% efficient gas furnace. You won’t get quoted one unless you specifically ask for it.
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