Blizzard approaching, what to do if power goes out?

As I imagine many are aware, there's a major winter storm sweeping across the US, and I'm concerned about outages. Normally I'd just get bottles of hot water for such an emergency, but where I live the water from the well won't come up without power so what can I do to keep my snake warm should the worst happen?

I bought a box of shipping heating pads just for an emergency like that. Hopefully I won't have to use them.

It's a little late for prep if you don't already have stuff on hand. Like chemical heat packs used for air shipping reptiles. (or similar "hand warmers") Also, ice chests/thick styro-foam chests & cloth bags for each of your snakes, with wire twist ties & rubber bands to make sure they can't escape. I went thru an ice storm in '09- no power for 4 days- & none of my 15 snakes got sick or harmed in any way- they were bagged & put in ice chests (not crowded, only a few per chest, of similar size) with jars of hot water (helps to have a gas hot water heater!) for warmth- they stayed a balmy 78-80* for about 9 hours, at which point I changed the water in the jars. BTW, find large empty jars or plastic soda bottles too. ;) In an absolute pinch, bag your snake & put him inside your shirt- YOU can be his heat in an emergency- but that's pretty hard if you have a lot of snakes or large ones, unless you have a big "understanding" family to go along with them. And pretty challenging if the power stays off for a while, so let's hope no one hits a power pole or anything. :please: You might fill some bottles of water to have on hand. (It's bitterly cold where I am too.)

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

It's a little late for prep if you don't already have stuff on hand. Like chemical heat packs used for air shipping reptiles. (or similar "hand warmers") Also, ice chests/thick styro-foam chests & cloth bags for each of your snakes, with wire twist ties & rubber bands to make sure they can't escape. I went thru an ice storm in '09- no power for 4 days- & none of my 15 snakes got sick or harmed in any way- they were bagged & put in ice chests (not crowded, only a few per chest, of similar size) with jars of hot water (helps to have a gas hot water heater!) for warmth- they stayed a balmy 78-80* for about 9 hours, at which point I changed the water in the jars. BTW, find large empty jars or plastic soda bottles too. ;) In an absolute pinch, bag your snake & put him inside your shirt- YOU can be his heat in an emergency- but that's pretty hard if you have a lot of snakes or large ones, unless you have a big "understanding" family to go along with them. And pretty challenging if the power stays off for a while, so let's hope no one hits a power pole or anything. :please: You might fill some bottles of water to have on hand. (It's bitterly cold where I am too.)

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Thankfully I only have the one and am already willing to utilize my body to keep him warm if push comes to shove. If it lasts a while though I'd obviously need to find a more secure solution as I can't exactly sleep with him in my clothing.

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Originally Posted by Snagrio

Thankfully I only have the one and am already willing to utilize my body to keep him warm if push comes to shove. If it lasts a while though I'd obviously need to find a more secure solution as I can't exactly sleep with him in my clothing.

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Tell me about it. :rolleyes: When I lost power that time, it was at night, & naively thinking that the power would be on in a couple hours (my first ice storm!) I first put all 15 snakes into ventilated plastic containers & put them under my down comforter with me. I had a large BCI at the time, she was in a pillow case on top of me...and she kept periscoping trying to figure out what was going on. :D Needless to say I didn't sleep...just waited for daylight to figure out "what next?" Trust me, ice chests with jars of hot water is way better, lol.

One thing I would caution is that a couple days at slightly below optimal temps isn't going to do any damage, a very small amount of time too hot could easily kill. Have heard too many horror stories of people losing reptiles this way trying to keep them warm in the winter. I would aim for 70-75 in an emergency vs 85 with any kind of improvised heating that can't be controlled the way their enclosures can with precision.

We have a generator, before that we had a Ryobi One "generator" attachment for their batteries and 6 batteries we make sure to keep charged. Running a space heater and their normal thermostat and heat tape for a few days would be simple. Doesn't probably help with limited time to prepare but might be something to aim for in the future. I feel like the less changes I would have to do in an emergency, the less chance for something to mess up, so I would prefer to keep them in their enclosures with their normal equipment running if possible.

You should get some water out now before the power goes out because it does hold temperature so well. I don't know what you are working with. Do you have a gas stove in the house? BBQ? Propane camping stove? If you do you could warm water you already have with those. Hopefully a cooler to have some place to put snake in a bag on one end and warm water on the other to keep cozy for several hours at a time.

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Originally Posted by Snagrio

Thankfully I only have the one and am already willing to utilize my body to keep him warm if push comes to shove. If it lasts a while though I'd obviously need to find a more secure solution as I can't exactly sleep with him in my clothing.

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Secure the snake in a pillow case, put the pillow case in a shallow tub, and put the tub under your covers with you when you sleep. The pillow case keeps the snake secure, and the tub ensures that you or other pets that sleep with you won't crush it and if your snake happens to pee overnight it won't make a mess in your bed.

Where is a good place to get the shipping heat packs? And which ones? I'm also crossing my fingers that the power doesn't go out.

If putting the snake in a tub in a pillow case, should there be holes drilled in the sides of the tub? I would imagine holes on the top would get smothered and not allow oxygen?

I'm more worried about my fish, honestly. My ball python is easier to improvise for with the above suggestions.

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Originally Posted by Trinityblood

Where is a good place to get the shipping heat packs? And which ones? I'm also crossing my fingers that the power doesn't go out.

If putting the snake in a tub in a pillow case, should there be holes drilled in the sides of the tub? I would imagine holes on the top would get smothered and not allow oxygen?

I'm more worried about my fish, honestly. My ball python is easier to improvise for with the above suggestions.

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ShipYourReptiles.com sells shipping supplies including heat packs. In a pinch for non-shipping purposes only you can use hand or sleeping bag warmers if you wrap them in a few layers of cloth.

I have tubs I use for transporting snakes to/from the vet and they have air holes in them.

You'll have a hard time with the fish if you lose power. You'd need a kerosene heater or Mr Buddy type propane heater to raise the ambient temp in the room they're in, but good luck finding one for sale in the state today. Oh, don't forget the CO detector either.

I'm reading reports out of TX where people have been without power or subject to rolling blackouts, or no natural gas because the power companies are pulling on it, and as a result they're dealing with frozen water pipes and homes with internal temperatures around 50*F. TX also gets 25% of its electric power generation from solar and wind, and either the wind turbines are frozen or not turning because there is no wind, and it's cloudy with snow/ice covered solar panels so they're not doing anything either. You have a perfect storm of peak demand with 25% of the generating capacity knocked out.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

ShipYourReptiles.com sells shipping supplies including heat packs. In a pinch for non-shipping purposes only you can use hand or sleeping bag warmers if you wrap them in a few layers of cloth.

I have tubs I use for transporting snakes to/from the vet and they have air holes in them.

You'll have a hard time with the fish if you lose power. You'd need a kerosene heater or Mr Buddy type propane heater to raise the ambient temp in the room they're in, but good luck finding one for sale in the state today. Oh, don't forget the CO detector either.

I'm reading reports out of TX where people have been without power or subject to rolling blackouts, or no natural gas because the power companies are pulling on it, and as a result they're dealing with frozen water pipes and homes with internal temperatures around 50*F. TX also gets 25% of its electric power generation from solar and wind, and either the wind turbines are frozen or not turning because there is no wind, and it's cloudy with snow/ice covered solar panels so they're not doing anything either. You have a perfect storm of peak demand with 25% of the generating capacity knocked out.

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Awesome. Thanks for the website suggestion. I had been looking at amazon a while back but the listings look sketchy to me. Do you know what the shelf life of the heat packs are when stored? I'm having trouble finding that info.

My tank is only a 20 gallon and low bioload so I'm hoping wrapping it with towels and having two computer backup batteries will keep at least the filter going for a good while. It's also possible to float a hot bag of water to keep temps up...so long as the gas stays on to heat water. Maybe I strap reptile heatpacks to the outside of the towels LOL. Fish are much more complicated than reptiles. Boy are snakes easy!

That's where I'm at. I don't expect to find anything the next few days. Nothing is open because most people here don't have the tires for driving in snow or ice. It's insane that it's under 10 F and snowed TWICE this year. Once is unheard of except every 5 or 10 years. I'm waiting for the rolling blackouts to happen where I am. I'm worried about the pipes once it starts to thaw. I think my electricity is natural gas generated which is much more reliable. But like you said the demand alone can cause them to start rotating the grid.

Ever hear of a "three dog night"? ;) (Dang! And me with only two dogs...)

It's frightfully cold here too, & they're warning us to minimize unessential power use immediately. :( I hope we all get through this mess...

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Ever hear of a "three dog night"? ;) (Dang! And me with only two dogs...)

It's frightfully cold here too, & they're warning us to minimize unessential power use immediately. :( I hope we all get through this mess...

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I've never heard the phrase! At least with two you can make a sandwich. They'll be your own heatpacks.

I hope everyone is staying warm.

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Originally Posted by Trinityblood

I've never heard the phrase! ...

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Oh, you "young'uns"! :D Um, the rock band? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5261s3Z3RU

And they got the name from: (to quote Dr. Google)
"The phrase "three dog night", meaning it is so cold you would need three dogs in bed with you to keep warm, originated with the Chukchi people of Siberia, who kept the Siberian Husky landrace dog that became the modern purebred breed of Siberian Husky."

If you're heating with gas then keeping your BP warm during the day is also easy, just pour hot water into a bottle, wrap it in a towel, put it in the enclosure. May need a few depending on the enclosure size but it's doable.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Oh, you "young'uns"!

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

:D Um, the rock band? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5261s3Z3RU

And they got the name from: (to quote Dr. Google)
"The phrase "three dog night", meaning it is so cold you would need three dogs in bed with you to keep warm, originated with the Chukchi people of Siberia, who kept the Siberian Husky landrace dog that became the modern purebred breed of Siberian Husky."

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Not a bad song at all. Definitely before my time lol.

Makes perfect sense. I have two huskies so I'm all set. At least they are loving this weather.

Heat without a genset or wood stove or gas stove. Hand an foot warmers from Walmart an the like in the camping section. Little Buddy heaters that run on one pound propane or 20lb with attachments. K1 heaters at TSC, Farm Store an Hardware stores. Harbor Freight store has Gensets cheap an inverters. With an inverter you use your car battery (in car) or a deep cycle one in the living room :O. With the inverter hook to your car battery you have power an just run the car for twenty minutes every five/six hours or so, depending on battery. Hot water is easy without power. Open the Hot Water Heater, you have a drain use it. Shut the breaker off to it if electric (on a well). You should drain it(on a well) if it looks like the heater is going to freeze!

Now, I know people that live where this type of storm hasn't hit in thirty years don't think about them. But if your without power over 24 hours in sub freezing temps it's time to bugout. Take the family an go to somebody that has heat an power.
BUT before you leave do this:

1) Protect the pipes from freezing. On a well this means draining the lines an pouring RV anti-freeze in the traps, toilets bowl an tank. Leave the taps open an throw the breaker to the HW tank (if gas set at vacation an don't drain, if empty turn gas off).
1a)On City water you turn all the taps on to a 1/4" stream (or more). If it just drips it will freeze. On the toilet it's remove the flapper or put a butter knife across under it so it runs. Yes, the water bill will be higher but the pipes are safe.

2)Turn most (all) breakers off. You don't want to burn everything up when the power comes back on.

Yes, I've been that dumb guy staying for a month in a frozen house. But I sent the wife, kids, reptiles an horse to another State. I had 100+ Herefords that needed to be fed an not enough time or money to move them.


Good luck!

After some discussion, there's an extra failsafe. One of my siblings lives in another neighborhood about 10 minutes away, so if her place still has power and we don't that can be a temporary solution, and even if her power also goes out she'll at least have water as she isn't on a well. Even that aside, at our house we do have a grill to heat things in a pinch plus a gas fireplace to heat one room with.

Temp wise, I would insulate the fish tank as much as possible and it can hold its heat enough that they will be okay (keep in mind fish survive shipping several days at sub optimal temps). The real worry is the filtration not being on and not exchanging oxygen any more than standing water. I'd definitely try and get some kind of battery bank to run the filter if you can afford it.

In addition to Shipyourreptiles, you can get the UniHeat reptile shipping warmer packs from the Reptile Basics website and on Amazon.

I have also ordered cold packs from Reptile Basics, as I live in wildfire country and the power is likely to go out during the hottest time of the year.

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Originally Posted by nikkubus

Temp wise, I would insulate the fish tank as much as possible and it can hold its heat enough that they will be okay (keep in mind fish survive shipping several days at sub optimal temps). The real worry is the filtration not being on and not exchanging oxygen any more than standing water. I'd definitely try and get some kind of battery bank to run the filter if you can afford it.

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I will be wrapping it up. I am 100% more concerned about keeping the water moving. I have a battery bubbler but I'll have to jerry rig some AA batteries to act like D batteries. Never thought much about how they're shipped. I always get them at my LFS. I would guess it's not much different than reptiles. It looks like a 4th storm is going to hit before I can get out of the house. No power outage yet *knocks on wood*.

There's a lot of people (myself included) "knocking on wood" this week. They're warning us to minimize use of electricity to avoid potential brown-outs. :( Quite the reminder of how dependent we all are on electricity to run so many things.

stay safe if a blizzard hits! I don't know how to help you, but I hope you stay safe with your noodles!

I'm not too terribly worried about my aquarium at least. At 125 gallons that's a lot of water to maintain temperature for a while. Can wrap it up with towels for sure but even a few days shouldn't cause immediate issues.

If anything I'm grateful that I didn't get new fish as I had originally planned last weekend due to snafus, as it would've been a sizable number of them in a little 10 gallon quarantine tank. A power outage for any considerable length of time in such conditions would've been disastrous.

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Originally Posted by BoopsTheBallPython

stay safe if a blizzard hits! I don't know how to help you, but I hope you stay safe with your noodles!

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Thanks, same to you & everyone else. :snake:

An important notice for those who may not have heard: the demand for electricity as a result of the extreme cold has forced the entire Southwest Power Pool to move to Energy Emergency Alert Level 3. SPP member utilities have been directed to implement controlled interruptions of service (ie. rolling blackouts) to prevent total outages. Rolling blackouts are already occurring in Texas and at least one energy provider in Kansas-Missouri has announced they will begin rolling blackouts. If you are in the path of the storm and/or the SPP, be prepared for rolling blackouts! Try to insulate your home and conserve as much energy as you can to reduce the strain on the electrical grid.

Additionally: if the storm has begun to impact your area, stay home and stay off the road! The storm is creating extremely dangerous road conditions, significant amounts of ice, and damage/disruptions on par with a hurricane. If the storm has begun to impact your area, it may be too late to head out to secure extra supplies. Be prepared to work with what you have.

Stay safe everyone!

The blackout in Texas are not rolling. They are just straight lose of power. My power went out at 5:45am this morning. And didn’t come back in until 3:15pm. And went back out around 5:25pm. I live in Dallas where they get ice and snow. However, this is crazy. I normally don’t loose power but this time I did. I sit I between three schools and four major shopping centers. Every bar around me is open but the neighborhoods do not have power. I just don’t understand. This is from my front door in the last 24 hours. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...1234cd3f20.dng
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My entire street is out. Growing up in Houston I am use to power outages due to weather. Living in north Texas for the last 8 years I have gotten used to rolling blackouts due to heat. However Texas isn’t equipped for teens or even signal digit weather. I am just at a loss at all of this. Just praying that everyone makes through the night.


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Kam, I'm glad to hear from you, I know you're in TX & was wondering how you're doing- that's a LONG time to be out of power in this cold, so sorry, hang in there, man! Brrr! This weather is nuts!

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Originally Posted by Snagrio

I'm not too terribly worried about my aquarium at least. At 125 gallons that's a lot of water to maintain temperature for a while. Can wrap it up with towels for sure but even a few days shouldn't cause immediate issues.

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Originally Posted by Snagrio

If anything I'm grateful that I didn't get new fish as I had originally planned last weekend due to snafus, as it would've been a sizable number of them in a little 10 gallon quarantine tank. A power outage for any considerable length of time in such conditions would've been disastrous.

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My gosh. No kidding. Hope your critters stay healthy.

@kam it looks like that here too. I have a friend nearby who has been without power OR water all day. They don't have anything on gas which really stinks. Can't even boil water or light a fire place. (They have no wood either)

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Kam, I'm glad to hear from you, I know you're in TX & was wondering how you're doing- that's a LONG time to be out of power in this cold, so sorry, hang in there, man! Brrr! This weather is nuts!

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I am doing everything I can to keep everyone in my house warm. From my scaly baby, to my fur baby, to friends who didn’t want to be alone at this time. My mom called me concerned about Medusa. I was like I am doing everything I can. I had hand warmers on deck a propane heater. But I gave the heater to my elderly neighbor. We will make it. I have faith that we will have power back in soon.


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Originally Posted by Kam

I am doing everything I can to keep everyone in my house warm. From my scaly baby, to my fur baby, to friends who didn’t want to be alone at this time. My mom called me concerned about Medusa. I was like I am doing everything I can. I had hand warmers on deck a propane heater. But I gave the heater to my elderly neighbor. We will make it. I have faith that we will have power back in soon.


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You're a wonderful neighbor! :sweeet:

That reminds me. Fill up your bathtubs with water like a hurricane is coming! It comes in handy for flushing toilets or other emergency water needs.

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Originally Posted by Trinityblood

That reminds me. Fill up your bathtubs with water like a hurricane is coming! It comes in handy for flushing toilets or other emergency water needs.

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Literally the first thing I did.


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I feel really silly, I had NO idea it snowed in TX. I thought even the northern part was far enough south, but I guess not!

Hope all of you and your babies make it through this storm safe.

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Originally Posted by nikkubus

I feel really silly, I had NO idea it snowed in TX. I thought even the northern part was far enough south, but I guess not!

Hope all of you and your babies make it through this storm safe.

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Desert climates are quite capricious at times. When I lived in the So. Calif. "high desert", one night we got 18" of snow! (The "usual" for the area was maybe a few inches at most, & not every year- it was considered an uncommon treat by most.) I thought I was hallucinating when I looked outside, with everything buried in white! But it melted pretty fast at least- it was cold enough to snow, but not cold enough to keep it for long. This current situation across so much of the country is really dangerous, between the travel difficulties & the power outages- lots of snow plus bitter wind chills. It can't leave soon enough. :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by nikkubus

I feel really silly, I had NO idea it snowed in TX. I thought even the northern part was far enough south, but I guess not!

Hope all of you and your babies make it through this storm safe.

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Thank you! Yeah snow as went as far south as Houston. Which is dangerous because of the humidity so it becomes ice. I am just praying that the state of Texas gets through this.


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Originally Posted by Kam

The blackout in Texas are not rolling. They are just straight lose of power. My power went out at 5:45am this morning. And didn’t come back in until 3:15pm. And went back out around 5:25pm. I live in Dallas where they get ice and snow. However, this is crazy. I normally don’t loose power but this time I did. I sit I between three schools and four major shopping centers. Every bar around me is open but the neighborhoods do not have power. I just don’t understand....
My entire street is out. Growing up in Houston I am use to power outages due to weather. Living in north Texas for the last 8 years I have gotten used to rolling blackouts due to heat. However Texas isn’t equipped for teens or even signal digit weather. I am just at a loss at all of this. Just praying that everyone makes through the night.


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I just found this info about the outage(s):

https://weather.com/news/news/2021-0...utages-impacts

Excerpt: (about halfway down is the part about why the outages ran much longer than the 15-45 minutes planned for)

More than 3.6 million Texas homes and businesses were without power Monday evening as record-breaking cold and Winter Storm Uri extended an icy grip across the central United States. In all, more than 4 million outages were being reported in 10 states as of about 6 p.m. EST, according to poweroutage.us.
The Southwest Power Pool, which manages the electric grid across parts of 14 states, warned that demand has exceeded its electric supply, and told its members to begin controlled outages. SPP said individual utilities would determine how to handled the outages.
“After exhausting usage of available reserve energy, SPP has now subsequently directed its member utilities to implement controlled interruptions of service to prevent further, more widespread and uncontrolled outages.” SPP said said.
SPP manages the electric grid in Kansas and Oklahoma, and in parts of New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Minnesota, Iowa, Wyoming, and Nebraska.
Rolling blackouts, which were supposed to last 30 to 60 minutes, had already started in Kansas City and Independence, Missouri, KSHB reported. The alert also affected electric cooperatives across Kansas, including much of the central and western parts of the state, KSHB reported.
Oklahoma Gas & Electric said rolling blackouts also had begun in that state, KWTV reported.
(MORE: Winter Storm Delays COVID-19 Vaccine Delivery; Officials Hustle to Distribute Doses After Power Outage)
In Texas, the agency that oversees most of that state's electric grid declared an "energy emergency alert three" early Monday after the grid experienced a systemwide failure, KTRK reported. The extreme winter weather forced generating units to trip and go offline, according to KXAS-TV.
Instead of rotating outages that were to last 15 to 45 minutes to manage the load, utilities experienced outages that have lasted for hours, officials with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas said in a briefing Monday.
“This event was well beyond the design parameters for a typical, or even an extreme, Texas winter that you would normally plan for. And so that is really the result that we're seeing," Dan Woodfin, senior director of system operations at the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, said in the briefing.
Texas set a winter peak demand record Sunday night, and that demand was expected to increase Monday and Tuesday as temperatures fall into the low single digits or colder.
Officials with the Electric Reliability Council said in the briefing it is up to each provider to decide how to shift outages as demand continues to exceed the supply of electricity, according to WFAA.
Blackouts couldn't be rotated in Southeast Texas any longer because there's not enough supply to move around the system, Kenny Mercado, executive vice president for CenterPoint Energy, told KPRC.
“This is a very serious situation, and we do not want the system to go down,” Mercado said. “We’ve got to keep a balance. We have to keep the load demand balanced across Houston, and not only that, but balanced across the entire state of Texas, and we’re watching it very closely.”
CenterPoint customers that still have power are part of the emergency service areas, including water and sewer plants, hospitals, police and 911 centers.
"The Texas power grid has not been compromised," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a tweet Monday afternoon. "The ability of some companies that generate the power has been frozen. This includes the natural gas & coal generators. They are working to get generation back on line."
Abbott later said he had deployed National Guard troops to conduct welfare checks and set up warming shelters.

Advertisement

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said several of the warming centers opened in his city had to close because they lost power, the Chronicle reported.




The Dallas Morning News reported that Walmart closed 368 stores in Texas and other Southern states because of the weather. Several grocery stores closed early, too.
(WATCH: How Winter Storm Uri Choked Texas’ Power Grid)

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

I just found this info about the outage(s):

https://weather.com/news/news/2021-0...utages-impacts

Excerpt: (about halfway down is the part about why the outages ran much longer than the 15-45 minutes planned for)

More than 3.6 million Texas homes and businesses were without power Monday evening as record-breaking cold and Winter Storm Uri extended an icy grip across the central United States. In all, more than 4 million outages were being reported in 10 states as of about 6 p.m. EST, according to poweroutage.us.
The Southwest Power Pool, which manages the electric grid across parts of 14 states, warned that demand has exceeded its electric supply, and told its members to begin controlled outages. SPP said individual utilities would determine how to handled the outages.
“After exhausting usage of available reserve energy, SPP has now subsequently directed its member utilities to implement controlled interruptions of service to prevent further, more widespread and uncontrolled outages.” SPP said said.
SPP manages the electric grid in Kansas and Oklahoma, and in parts of New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Minnesota, Iowa, Wyoming, and Nebraska.
Rolling blackouts, which were supposed to last 30 to 60 minutes, had already started in Kansas City and Independence, Missouri, KSHB reported. The alert also affected electric cooperatives across Kansas, including much of the central and western parts of the state, KSHB reported.
Oklahoma Gas & Electric said rolling blackouts also had begun in that state, KWTV reported.
(MORE: Winter Storm Delays COVID-19 Vaccine Delivery; Officials Hustle to Distribute Doses After Power Outage)
In Texas, the agency that oversees most of that state's electric grid declared an "energy emergency alert three" early Monday after the grid experienced a systemwide failure, KTRK reported. The extreme winter weather forced generating units to trip and go offline, according to KXAS-TV.
Instead of rotating outages that were to last 15 to 45 minutes to manage the load, utilities experienced outages that have lasted for hours, officials with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas said in a briefing Monday.
“This event was well beyond the design parameters for a typical, or even an extreme, Texas winter that you would normally plan for. And so that is really the result that we're seeing," Dan Woodfin, senior director of system operations at the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, said in the briefing.
Texas set a winter peak demand record Sunday night, and that demand was expected to increase Monday and Tuesday as temperatures fall into the low single digits or colder.
Officials with the Electric Reliability Council said in the briefing it is up to each provider to decide how to shift outages as demand continues to exceed the supply of electricity, according to WFAA.
Blackouts couldn't be rotated in Southeast Texas any longer because there's not enough supply to move around the system, Kenny Mercado, executive vice president for CenterPoint Energy, told KPRC.
“This is a very serious situation, and we do not want the system to go down,” Mercado said. “We’ve got to keep a balance. We have to keep the load demand balanced across Houston, and not only that, but balanced across the entire state of Texas, and we’re watching it very closely.”
CenterPoint customers that still have power are part of the emergency service areas, including water and sewer plants, hospitals, police and 911 centers.
"The Texas power grid has not been compromised," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a tweet Monday afternoon. "The ability of some companies that generate the power has been frozen. This includes the natural gas & coal generators. They are working to get generation back on line."
Abbott later said he had deployed National Guard troops to conduct welfare checks and set up warming shelters.

Advertisement

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said several of the warming centers opened in his city had to close because they lost power, the Chronicle reported.




The Dallas Morning News reported that Walmart closed 368 stores in Texas and other Southern states because of the weather. Several grocery stores closed early, too.
(WATCH: How Winter Storm Uri Choked Texas’ Power Grid)

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Thank you. I have read that one.


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Originally Posted by Kam

Thank you. I have read that one.


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As a former Californian of many years, this reminds me of all the "controlled burns" that turned into wildfires when things didn't go as planned. :rolleyes:

Your power is on now, Kam?

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

As a former Californian of many years, this reminds me of all the "controlled burns" that turned into wildfires when things didn't go as planned. :rolleyes:

Your power is on now, Kam?

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No power as of yet. They said by 11:30pm I’m bundled up.


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Originally Posted by Kam

No power as of yet. They said by 11:30pm I’m bundled up.


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You're almost there...sending warm thoughts -as I wonder when or if our turn will come? It's not supposed to be THIS cold in the south. Like we needed half the country to fall into the deep freeze while everyone's battling COVID too, & trying to get vaccines done. :weirdface

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

You're almost there...sending warm thoughts -as I wonder when or if our turn will come? It's not supposed to be THIS cold in the south. Like we needed half the country to fall into the deep freeze while everyone's battling COVID too, & trying to get vaccines done. :weirdface

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Better yet why is half the city in the dark whilst downtown looks like Christmas?


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Originally Posted by Kam

Better yet why is half the city in the dark whilst downtown looks like Christmas?


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:( That stinks! Very good question- but sometimes restoring power depends on factors not obvious to those waiting. I don't know how much of an issue ice is there, but when I went thru a severe ice storm years back, restorations were faster when they didn't have to clear trees to get to lines that were down. (Big selling point for underground utilities.) This is a whole different kind of outage, & I don't know enough about the power grid to speculate what's going on there, but from what they've said so far, it doesn't make any sense.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

:( That stinks! Very good question- but sometimes restoring power depends on factors not obvious to those waiting. I don't know how much of an issue ice is there, but when I went thru a severe ice storm years back, restorations were faster when they didn't have to clear trees to get to lines that were down. (Big selling point for underground utilities.) This is a whole different kind of outage, & I don't know enough about the power grid to speculate what's going on there, but from what they've said so far, it doesn't make any sense.

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There isn’t a legit explanation to know of this. I have a friend who lives close to the airport he didn’t loose power? Why because he is on the airport grid. Which directly around the corner from me.


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Originally Posted by Kam

There isn’t a legit explanation to know of this. I have a friend who lives close to the airport he didn’t loose power? Why because he is on the airport grid. Which directly around the corner from me.


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Has their power been on all evening? Maybe they're just restoring part to test before going all the way on & risking a crash? I dunno, just guessing. Miserable to be waiting & seeing power on elsewhere though. Is the airport open & functioning at all?

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Has their power been on all evening? Maybe they're just restoring part to test before going all the way on & risking a crash? I dunno, just guessing. Miserable to be waiting & seeing power on elsewhere though. Is the airport open & functioning at all?

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We had power for two hours. The I haven’t heard any planes since Friday. It is the same with people who live by hospitals as well. I’m finally crawling in bed. Still now power.


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So sorry...hang in there. I hate waiting for power to come back on- it's the worst.

Wish I'd thought to buy a house near the hospital...but with my luck, I'd be on the wrong side of the street anyway. ;)

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

So sorry...hang in there. I hate waiting for power to come back on- it's the worst.

Wish I'd thought to buy a house near the hospital...but with my luck, I'd be on the wrong side of the street anyway. ;)

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You and me both.


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I’m in Austin, TX. Power went out for the first time yesterday at 2 am. I got a text saying they were doing planned outages that would last an hour. Went to bed. When I woke up at 8 am, the power was out, but it wasn’t cold in my house. Power came back on around noon for 30 minutes. Decided I wouldn’t move my animals unless it didn’t come back on before I went to bed. Luckily it came on at 7 pm until it just shut off now.

Without power for about 7 hours at the worst, and the house didn’t drop below 60-65, enclosures didn’t drop below 70-75. Luckily, I have a gas stove, in case I need to boil water. But with my animals being in a segregated room that has held temp pretty well, I’m probably not going to move them unless power doesn’t come back on for 12+ hours, I’m hoping.

edit: powers back!

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Originally Posted by wnateg

I’m in Austin, TX. Power went out for the first time yesterday at 2 am. I got a text saying they were doing planned outages that would last an hour. Went to bed. When I woke up at 8 am, the power was out, but it wasn’t cold in my house. Power came back on around noon for 30 minutes. Decided I wouldn’t move my animals unless it didn’t come back on before I went to bed. Luckily it came on at 7 pm until it just shut off now.

Without power for about 7 hours at the worst, and the house didn’t drop below 60-65, enclosures didn’t drop below 70-75. Luckily, I have a gas stove, in case I need to boil water. But with my animals being in a segregated room that has held temp pretty well, I’m probably not going to move them unless power doesn’t come back on for 12+ hours, I’m hoping.

edit: powers back!

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I still have no power here Dallas.


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Finally we have power. Now for how long? I don’t know. However I will thaw out and check on the rest of the house.


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