Some Texans have been without power for five days, surpassing the record set by the 2021 storm that left millions without power. Despite public outcry and legislative hearings, it happened again. This time, however, it's not the weakness of the power grid but the infrastructure itself.
Temperatures are finally starting to warm, KUT reported, and that has helped repairs go faster. The ice storm froze trees that fall on power lines across the state.
In Austin, "more than a hundred thousand households lost power for days."
"As crews continue their work, the outage restoration process will become even more complex," the utility provider said Saturday morning, noting that it might be a few days before they can fully restore the state.
The Texas Tribune reported that in Austin, "crews were steadily reconnecting customers Saturday, there were still more than 66,000 homes and businesses without power by late afternoon after a midweek ice storm wrought chaos on the city’s electrical system."
Austin Energy said that they've got their trucks out so that people can charge their phones and any other medical equipment. They are offering financial assistance programs for those in need as well.
\u201cIf your power is still out, we\u2019re hosting community events:\n\ud83d\udcf1 Charge your phone & other devices (bring your own cords!)\n\u2695\ufe0f Charge medical devices\n\u2139\ufe0f Learn about our Medically Vulnerable Program & financial assistance options\nWe'll share details on the events throughout the week\u201d— Austin Energy (@Austin Energy) 1675560031
Law school professor Steve Vladeck said that this is past the 100 hour mark for his family.
\u201cAnd on the fifth day, they \u2026 still didn\u2019t have power.\n\nWe\u2019re now past the 100-hour mark \u2014 and well past the length of our snowpocalypse outage from February 2021.\u201d— Steve Vladeck (@Steve Vladeck) 1675609806
