During the week of February 14th, 2021, the state of Texas experienced a winter storm some call “Once in a lifetime.” I personally feel that we have experienced similar storms. I have been labeled as “Essential Personnel” since 2009 and this is the third storm, I have been through that resulted in snow, ice, and power loss. I will acknowledge this one has affected all 254 counties in Texas and was also the single most devastating storm I have been through. While I was personally only minimally discomforted by the storm, it did provide some intelligence and ability to “Test” my preparations. The issue with testing preparations is it points out the flaws.
The biggest failure I had in my preparations was water supply. I only owned two, five-gallon water containers at the time of this storm. I thought 10 gallons sounded like enough for five people until resupply. What I failed to take into consideration was hygiene and flushing of toilets. While I am personally okay with making yellow snow cones, my wife and kids are a different story. The ten gallons of water went fast trying to flush two toilets that had been used all day. Before this incident I felt it was necessary to keep 35 gallons of gas on hand and only 10 gallons of water…..That logical fallacy was pointed out on day two of the main water line to my house being broke. Something unexpected was the boil order warnings issued to many cities. I was purchasing water at an ice house that had a water dispenser. I was literally in line to get more water when they turned it off due to the boil water order. Another area of preparations I failed was power supply. Something important to note is the 5 gallon MWC do not have a method of easily attaching a spout. I am working on resolving this problem now and will have a blog about it soon.
I am fortunate that I did not lose power during the storm however, my parents were not so lucky. They endured rolling black outs for nearly five days. Fortunately for them it seemed to be on a 30-minute rotation on and off. A friend of mine went without power for several days to the point her electrical panel had ice forming on it. I only owned the Goal Zero Yeti 200X at the time of this storm. My belief system of keeping the internet service provider on for information, while useful pointed out the reality my family needs warmth and charged phones.
A glaring error in my preparations is alternate heat and AC. While heat was important this time, AC would have been in need during the Texas summers. We are fortunate to have a fireplace however, I had a limited amount of firewood on hand. My wife, being the highly intelligent, beautiful woman she is, had the foresight to not light a fire unless we lost power and needed heat. During this storm I worked almost every evening, so she was home with the kids every night.
Something else that my Dad and I discussed after the storm was keeping a portable tool box with a certain amount of plumbing, electrical and other quick house repair stuff. It has not come to fruition yet, so it’s still being designed. I am thinking either a Dewalt Tough Stack or Milwaukee Packout system. Simply add fittings for PVC, PEX, and Copper so we can make quick repairs and keep water flowing. I thought to add electrical to this kit as well just in case. A small number of connectors and replacement wire would go a long way if needed. Simply add the tools for both plumbing and electrical and on the outside use masking tape to leave reminders for instance “Got propane?”
With all of the failures in foresight and preparations I had, there some wins. First and foremost, I married a smart woman with an admirable amount of mental fortitude. It makes things so much easier when the people closest to you are not panicking. I also had a minimal amount of gas stored in case we needed to refuel our vehicles. Some gas stations ran out gas however, it was not really an issue. I also consider it a win I had two MWC (Military water cans on hand). It made certain things easier like moving water to appropriate places. This event was a solid example of why we should be prepared for critical incidents.
Four Horsemen Adventures and Preparedness 