Airehead Posted February 16, 2021 Share #1 Posted February 16, 2021 Has your power been restored? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Guest Posted February 16, 2021 Popular Post Share #2 Posted February 16, 2021 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheep_herder ★ Posted February 16, 2021 Share #3 Posted February 16, 2021 Just heard from my friend in Austin that a water pipe broke inside his house between the floor (second floor) and ceiling (first floor). What a mess, and hope it did not destroy any of his electronics. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirby Posted February 16, 2021 Share #4 Posted February 16, 2021 My friend near Dallas had power restored for a few hours in the middle of the day, but it's gone again. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airehead Posted February 16, 2021 Author Share #5 Posted February 16, 2021 What a mess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsharr ★ Posted February 16, 2021 Share #6 Posted February 16, 2021 No power. Burst pipe. Shut off water at main. Staying at friends. May be three or four days until power restored. Our energy grid is majorly screwed. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bikeguy Posted February 16, 2021 Share #7 Posted February 16, 2021 1 minute ago, jsharr said: Our energy grid is majorly screwed. If the power system is using 'rolling blackouts' to keep the system stable, I'll guess this maybe 'normal' until the weather gets warmer, in 3 or 4 days. (like you mentioned). if rolling blackouts fail to work... it all goes off. That would be very bad if it was in the summer, worse in the winter. Power systems in one way are simple. Power generated must always equal power being used. Record power consumption (cold will do that) without generation, means stuff needs to be turned off until electric usage matches power generated again. Rolling blackouts... is the last contingency before no power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dinneR ★ Posted February 16, 2021 Share #8 Posted February 16, 2021 24 minutes ago, jsharr said: No power. Burst pipe. Shut off water at main. Staying at friends. May be three or four days until power restored. Our energy grid is majorly screwed. Bummer, sorry about that. Have you read Total Power, the latest Mitch Rapp? It's about the power grid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsharr ★ Posted February 16, 2021 Share #9 Posted February 16, 2021 12 minutes ago, Bikeguy said: If the power system is using 'rolling blackouts' to keep the system stable, I'll guess this maybe 'normal' until the weather gets warmer, in 3 or 4 days. (like you mentioned). if rolling blackouts fail to work... it all goes off. That would be very bad if it was in the summer, worse in the winter. Power systems in one way are simple. Power generated must always equal power being used. Record power consumption (cold will do that) without generation, means stuff needs to be turned off until electric usage matches power generated again. Rolling blackouts... is the last contingency before no power. They are not rolling. They shut it off and don’t have enough to turn it back on. We drew the short straw. Has do to with where you live and if you have essential facilities on your grid. Those grids stay on and others like me are screwed. I do not expect to have power until Thursday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsharr ★ Posted February 16, 2021 Share #10 Posted February 16, 2021 Just now, dennis said: Bummer, sorry about that. Have you read Total Power, the latest Mitch Rapp? It's about the power grid. Not sure. Sounds familiar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dinneR ★ Posted February 16, 2021 Share #11 Posted February 16, 2021 1 minute ago, jsharr said: Not sure. Sounds familiar I think it was published in Sept. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bikeguy Posted February 16, 2021 Share #12 Posted February 16, 2021 Just now, jsharr said: They are not rolling. They shut it off and don’t have enough to turn it back on. We drew the short straw. Has do to with where you live and if you have essential facilities on your grid. Those grids stay on and others like me are screwed. I do not expect to have power until Thursday Yeah... then you are indeed screwed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsharr ★ Posted February 16, 2021 Share #13 Posted February 16, 2021 3 minutes ago, Bikeguy said: Yeah... then you are indeed screwed. I think they wanted to roll and got a big surprise. Texas has never had the entire state under a winter watch like this. Add in frozen wind turbines, snow covered solar and shut down coal plants and a massively big population growth and they cannot make enough power to supply even part of the need. Add in economics where all these deregulated suppliers cannot buy power for what they are contracted to sell it for and it gets worse . The retail power consumer is fucked. This storm and my power being shut off at a whim by the powers that be will end up costing me thousands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bikeguy Posted February 16, 2021 Share #14 Posted February 16, 2021 6 minutes ago, Bikeguy said: Has do to with where you live and if you have essential facilities on your grid. I've seen the plans we had for rolling blackouts. Your best bet would be to live near a hospital, and hope the power line remains on. Hospitals have at least 2 power lines, for redundant power. But... that doesn't mean both will be on after a storm etc... Now you know why I have a generator and enough gas for at least 3 days. (I rotate the gas to be burned in the JD, so the gas is always fresh). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Kosciuszko Posted February 16, 2021 Share #15 Posted February 16, 2021 7 hours ago, jsharr said: Burst pipe. Shut off water at main. Staying at friends. May be three or four days until power restored. When you do get power back and the leak fixed, I'd suggest testing the pipes in your house with compressed air rather than turning the water back on. You could have other spots in your piping system that froze simply because water was sitting in them after you turned off the main. If the pipes split there too, then turning the main back on after the initial repair will cause any other breaks to cause more damage. You may have to wait a day or so to let all the pipes thaw completely, otherwise an ice plug in a pipe could hide a broken pipe on the far side of the plug. If you think you might be able to fix the initial leak yourself, I'd suggest going out now - if you can - to the local building supply store - if it's open - and get the materials you need before the rush. Everybody's going to want a plumber and/or plumbing supplies, and I'd imagine not many people are thinking that far ahead yet. If nothing else if you can get the materials now it might be easier to get a plumber to come if you tell him you've already got the pipe. That might make your repair quicker and easier for him to do and move you up on his list. Best of luck! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffJim Posted February 16, 2021 Share #16 Posted February 16, 2021 I wouldn’t be surprised if when the smoke clears, there is a triple digit death toll of people who’ve frozen to death in Texas, and bordering states. This is a real mess. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsharr ★ Posted February 16, 2021 Share #17 Posted February 16, 2021 16 minutes ago, BuffJim said: I wouldn’t be surprised if when the smoke clears, there is a triple digit death toll of people who’ve frozen to death in Texas, and bordering states. This is a real mess. Sad but true. Many providers did not winterize or weatherize equipment leading to failure and loss of supply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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