Texas's power disaster is a warning sign for the US

America's power grid is not ready.

In February, extreme cold and an unusual winter storm left millions of Texans in the dark. Many went without power or water, in subzero temperatures, for nearly five days. It was a disaster; dozens died. But even though that storm hit much of the country, the power outages were mostly limited to Texas. That’s because Texas is on its own electrical grid, separate from the rest of the country, which means it can’t easily get power from other states in an emergency.

But Texas's grid itself is not what failed. Power went out across Texas in the first place because energy sources across the state were unprepared for severe weather. And that didn’t have to happen; Texas had been warned about this exact scenario, and had actually experienced versions of it twice in the last 30 years. But they didn’t prepare.

Now the rest of the US faces the same issue. Climate change is making severe weather disasters more and more frequent. And the American energy system is not ready for it.

[r.a.]

_“Corona doesn't break the system; Corona exposed a broken system.”_

likewise...
_“The snowstorm doesn't break the system; the snowstorm exposed a broken system.”_

[Phidiasan]

Always money for war but never for infrastructure...

[bltlife]

"Oh, come on. That'll never happen." Pompeii resident

[feathertail]

I live in Texas, and my dad sold our generator we bought since Harvey two months before the storm hit. We had no water and no electricity for three days and all the hotels in a three hour radius were packed full of people who didn’t have a viable shelter to stay in. Our roof also started leaking, causing a flood in our bathroom. Let’s just say that it wasn’t a pleasant time.

[mwaleed]

One of the biggest issues U.S face is lobbying. Private companies interfering in government policies by lobbying is only going to harm national interests. Lobbying must end. This is coming from someone who isn't even an American.

[theofficialadhdteacher]

Watch in 10 years. We are going to be talking about the same thing.

[kojiyaw]

US: *faces a power crisis and calamities*

Developing countries: "first time?"

[Raymondcurryjr]

“Anything that happens twice is surely to happen a third.”

[Dominion]

Texas: *Loses power*
The government: “Oh no. Anyway....”

[stevenbaldin]

Canadians living down there prolly thinking “what’s the problem just a little snow”

[Verschreibungspflichtig]

The US sometimes seem like a third world country with a gucci belt

[grayhat]

We will meet here again in 10 years from now for the same problem occurring.

[aaronlee]

U.S. is the CEO of "oh yeah that wasn't meant to be permanent" infrastructure and government wise.

[BizzeeB]

It's strange how everyone opposed to "Big Government" has no problem electing Bad Government.

[tocheirotero]

I can only imagine how it must've felt like being a homeless person or a stray animal in those conditions. Prayers to every soul that didn't make it.

[johnharvell]

I remember Greg Abbot blaming renewable energy which made up ten percent of their power grid. They've had bad winters before like this. Ten years ago this happened, did they weatherize the grid? NOPE! Costing those who had some electricity tens of thousands of dollars.

[TheMedicatedArtist]

U.S. Motto: “It’s always been this way”

[walter]

This has to be one of the biggest "I told you so", in American history.

[BmoreHtown]

As someone who resides in Texas (Houston)..this was DEVASTATING. I only was without power for 2 days, but more of my friends lost it for the week. Many lost water and EVERY store was closed. This means, no water, no lights, no heat, no wifi, no warm food. Felt apocalyptic. And our cowardly senator chose to go on vacation 🤦🏿‍♂️ Many are still living in hotels after pipes burst destroying their homes

[kinetic]

Texan resident here. What really made the snowstorm deadly for us was:
1) Our houses are made to release as much heat as possible
2) Salt trucks are not readily available in most major cities
3) Our pipelines are not deep enough underground to be insulated by soil
4) Our power grid is for some reason unable to handle ANY extreme weather
Combine all that with our people's general lack of knowledge dealing with the cold and our governor taking off to the tropics for some reason and you get the horrible crisis you saw play out before you