A huge winter storm hit most states in America and last week, Texas joined the list. According to meteorologists, slight snow in the state is a strange occurrence but the major snowfall is something they hadn’t seen in more than a century!
Snow Problem
ERCOT’s Situation
Blackouts are the most serious issue of all since it is directly connected to heating systems in all households. This is much worse due to quarantine, unable to go out yet staying at home in such cold weather without a proper heating system is unhealthy as well.
Millions of Texans as the state’s electricity infrastructure experienced “total failure”. The grid is now under extreme scrutiny on what went wrong. Texas is one of the few states that have their independent power grid aside from Alaska and Hawaii. This means outside help is out of the question.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, known as Ercot, manages the state’s power grid. Bill Magness, the CEO described Texas as “an electrical island in the US”. While Texas has control over the state’s power, this means there is fewer power plant they could rely on. There are even parts in the state where Ercot did not reach.
In addition to the cold, the grid was not built for this situation. Ercot turned off power for millions of customers after several power plants shut down due to the below-freezing temperatures. Officials state that the plants could not handle such temperatures and they either shut it down or risking the collapse of the grid.
Water Shortage
Power seems to be restored in phase in certain areas. However, there are other problems arising. The pipes burst due to the freezing temperature forced many to boil icicles for water supply.
Although many are using humor to distract themselves from the dire situation, there are many suffering from hypothermia from this disaster. Hopefully, things will get better for the “Lone Star” state.
Source: The Guardian, CNN, Texas Tribune
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