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December
03
2022

Surviving When Weaponized Nature Is The Biggest Killer, Technology Has Gone Berserk And Blackouts Have Arrived - The Deadly Winter Storms That Hit Texas In 2021 Remind Us Nobody Is Immune
Stefan Stanford

According to this recent story over at Natural News, a new report from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) says that “grids from the Great Lakes to Louisiana, New England, Carolinas, and all of Texas are the most at risk for power supply shortfalls during high-demand periods” this coming Winter, with the regulatory organization also warning if there is a cold snap for weeks on end, that could lead to major strains on power grids as demand from households and businesses rises significantly. Such demand would lead to rapid drawdowns of natural gas, coal, and backup diesel generators, which could then lead to shortages and power disruptions.

With cold weather already upon many of us and Winter quickly closing in, and many different sectors of the energy market getting hit by power & demand crunches at the same time as the colder weather closes in, we thought it a great time to do a refresher course on ‘winter prepping‘ with NERC warning of the potential of so many outages ahead and the technologies which people depend upon to provide life sustaining warmth goes haywire at the worst possible time, bringing us back to a time when ‘warmth’ wasn’t as close by as a flip of a switch and mother nature is the biggest killer of all for the unprepared.

And while most think that it will never happen to them, and we pray that it doesn’t, all we need to do is look back to February of 2021 and the deadly Winter storms that hit Texas and triggered power outages all across the state during the worst possible time, leading to between 246 and 702 needless deaths.

In February 2021, the state of Texas suffered a major power crisis, which came about during three severe winter storms sweeping across the United States on February 10–11, 13–17, and 15–20. The storms triggered the worst energy infrastructure failure in Texas state history, leading to shortages of water, food, and heat. More than 4.5 million homes and businesses were left without power, some for several days. At least 246 people were killed directly or indirectly, with some estimates as high as 702 killed as a result of the crisis. 

State officials including Republican governor Greg Abbott initially blamed the outages on frozen wind turbines and solar panels. However, data showed that failure to winterize power sources, like wind turbines and natural gas infrastructure, had caused the grid failure. Texas’s power grid has long been separate from the two major national grids to avoid federal oversight, though it is still connected to the other national grids and Mexico’s; the limited number of ties made it difficult for the state to import electricity from other states during the crisis. Deregulation of its electricity market beginning in the 1990s resulted in competition in wholesale electricity prices, but also cost cutting for contingency preparation. 

And while the Texas Tribune reported on January 2nd of 2022 that the state of Texas put the final number dead due to the storms at 246, many less than the estimates of over 700, that is STILL 246 deaths too many with simple preparations for the cold and frigid weather one of the very first things that we do once Summer comes to an end living up here on a mountain top in Western Maryland where cold weather is with us for at least a good part of 6 months, and quite often more.

So I'll quickly admit that prior to moving out here nearly a decade ago, one of the key components that we absolutely had to have in our home/office was a wood-burning fireplace, with colder weather with us for at least half of the year up here and, being preppers who'd recently been reading about EMP's and 'grid down scenarios,' understanding that cold weather for the unprepared can be an instant killer.

Using what is known as the 'oven method' to get our fires started as seen in the side by side photos above, we begin burning wood to heat our home/office as early as October, and often do so through March and into April when needed, as we've found wood is so much cheaper to heat our home with than propane. 

And while the temperature may get down to as low as 60 degrees or so in the basement overnight when the temperatures are near freezing outside, using the fireplace we can get the temps up to over 70 degrees within just a few hours, and with hot air rising, are able to heat up the entire house within no time. As Susan Duclos mentions to me as she walks down the stairs on fire days, she instantly feels that hot air hitting her upon her descent and as we all know, in the winter time, warm air saves lives. 

So while not everyone reading this story has a fireplace as a way to heat up the cold air should a grid down scenario take down our way of doing so like happened in Texas back in 2021, instantly leaving the unprepared as 'sitting ducks' to 'mother nature,' in the remainder of this story we'll be looking at making sure our families and loved ones survive when the weather becomes a killer and it 'takes down technology' like it has done so many times in the past, leaving those who didn't prepare out of luck. 

Mother Nature is always keeping us on our toes. With winter weather soon on its way, Potomac Edison wants you to be prepared for the cold months ahead. These tips will help ensure you’re ready when the wind whips and ice and snow accumulate. 

Winter Storm Preparation Tips

Prepare in advance of severe weather by having emergency supplies on hand: 

- Fully charged cell phones, laptops and tablets. 

- Car charger to charge devices if your power is out. 

- Flashlight, portable radio and extra batteries. 

- Hard-wired phone to report an outage or emergency. 

- A plain, hard-wired phone can operate on power delivered through the phone line. 

- Extra blankets or a sleeping bag for each person. 

- First-aid kit. 

- Medications and other personal health items for each person. 

- Emergency supply of bottled water and/or fill your bathtub with fresh water. 

- Supply of convenience foods that do not require cooking. 

- Don’t forget the can opener! 

If you should lose power, manage through safely by following these tips: 

- If you’re using a backup generator for emergency power, follow the manufacturer’s instructions and use it safely. 

- Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed. These appliances are well insulated, so food will keep for several hours if doors are closed as much as possible.

- Use a flashlight or battery-powered lantern for light. Use care when burning candles; open flames are a dangerous fire hazard. 

- To safeguard your equipment and appliances – and to ease the initial load when power is restored – turn off or unplug televisions, VCRs, DVD players, stereos, computers and appliances that use electric motors, such as refrigerators, freezers or air conditioners, until power is restored. Leave an incandescent light on so you know when the power comes back on. 

- DO NOT use gas stoves, charcoal grills or other open-flame heat sources for warmth. Deadly carbon monoxide gas – which is odorless and invisible – may build up in your home without you realizing it.

And ANP reader 'Betty' made an excellent comment in a recent ANP story comment section about that final point made by Potomac Edison, warning she'd recently heard several fire trucks going out on calls due to chimney fires in the homes of people who hadn't been burning much wood over the past several years now doing so due largely to fuel used to heat being so expensive. As Betty reminded us all, well-seasoned firewood takes up to two years to properly dry out and season, so anyone using fireplaces to heat their homes this Winter should definitely make sure their chimneys are clean and prepared as we'd hate for anyone to go through a chimney fire scenario.

Yet as a chimney sweep told us here at ANP a couple of years ago when he came out to clean our chimney, he'd rarely seen such a clean chimney and then he told us why; because we burn wood to heat our home ALL the time rather than just once in a blue moon. Telling Susan and I that the more we burn wood, the less work they need to do to keep it clean, we didn't need to hear anything else. 

So while it was less than 25 degrees here outside this morning, and inside it had gotten down once again to around 60 degrees, just a few hours after getting that fire kicking that you see in the images above, it's well over 75 degrees down here in our basement where we write and spend most of our days, with only a fireplace cooking. And that's the kind of warmth that saves lives in a grid down scenario.  

So as is always the case here at ANP, our comment section below is wide open for your own Winter prepping advice and suggestions and anything else you feel like talking about; your advice could save lives! Links to many more Winter Prepping supplies are also above the comment section below.

 

 

Friendsville, Maryland, United States 

• Volunteer Writer @ All News Pipeline
• Alternative News Editor @ Before Its News
• Alternative Politics Editor @ Before Its News
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