A major winter storm could dump as much as four inches of snow and paralyze Texas, leaving many traumatized locals with terrible memories of 2021’s megafreeze that left most of the state without power for weeks and left hundreds dead.
One person has already died due to the frigid conditions in the Lone Star State.
Authorities discovered the frozen body of a man around 7:30 a.m. Monday near a covered bus stop in Houston’s Second Ward on N. Cesar Chavez near Canal Street. according to KPRC.
The man’s death is believed to be the first death linked to this week’s polar vortex, which will bring high temperatures in the 30s and lows in the 20s in a state unaccustomed to freezing conditions .
Snow is expected to fall starting Thursday in an area from Dallas stretching to Austin.
The state’s power grid operator has issued a “weather warning” for the entire week, with snow arriving as early as Thursday and lasting until Friday.
While the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, clarified that the power grid is expected to hold up during this storm, reserves could be “lower” than normal.
‘Grid conditions are expected to be normal. A Weather Watch is not a call for nature conservation,’ ERCOT posted on social media Monday.
Snow is forecast for much of Texas on Thursday and Friday this week
Subzero temperatures gripped Texas on February 18, 2021, as power was restored to more homes across the state overnight. Photo: Workers clear the ice in a frozen fountain at the Richardson Civic Center, just north of Dallas
X, formerly called Twitter, users immediately responded with criticism and skepticism after the February 2021 winter storm left nearly the entire state without power in freezing temperatures due to ERCOT’s lack of planning and incompetence.
“I don’t trust you, I remember February 2021,” @wwg248 replied.
‘What exactly is the problem that needs to be fixed in this situation??? You post this every season! At some point you have to be perfectly capable of providing uninterrupted service to Texans. Especially during heavy use, which is not unusual in this condition,” said @Jimssecondacct.
“This is your seasonal ‘Lower Your Expectations Alert’, don’t worry… they’re already low,” said @RickAlaniz99.
Ahead of 2021’s catastrophic ice storm, which nearly collapsed Texas’ power grid, ERCOT had urged Texans to conserve energy and avoid turning on their heat to avoid further blackouts.
Despite residents heeding calls for conservation, the entire state, which runs on its own electrical grid, disconnected from the rest of the country, remained in the dark — with the exception of El Paso, which is part of the Western U.S. electricity grid.
At least 246 people died from hypothermiawith some people dying as the storm broke out, and other bodies being found weeks later.
However, the actual death toll could have been closer to 700. reports Buzzfeed as part of its own analysis of deaths.
A tractor trailer is stuck in slick ice and snow on State Highway 195 on February 18, 2021 in Killeen, Texas. Winter Storm Uri has brought historic cold weather and power outages to Texas as storms rage across 26 states with a mix of freezing temperatures and precipitation
In this image from the video, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, walks to check in for his flight back to the U.S. at Cancun International Airport in Cancun, Mexico, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021
This is the same storm that earned U.S. Senator Ted Cruz the name Cancun Cruz, when the senator fled his home in Houston for a beach vacation while his constituents suffered and literally died.
Although improvements have been made since 2021, such as adding weatherproofing to the power grid, many still do not trust the system.
In addition, Dallas, which is expected to receive the most snow and ice mixture than anywhere else in the state, was also closed in 2011 as it hosted the Super Bowl.
Seven workers at the Cowboy’s AT&T Stadium were injured after huge chunks of ice fell from the roof.
During that storm, just two inches of snow over three days brought the nation’s fourth-largest metroplex to its knees, costing the city $611 million in projected revenue for Super Bowl events.
“Just a PSA for anyone coming to Dallas for the Cotton Bowl on Friday: the weather in this city is going to be absolutely amazing.
“There’s already talk of the possibility of a ton of snow Thursday/Friday and this city doesn’t do well with snow. Something to pay attention to’ tweeted @AriWasserman.