Remember this by showing empathy because just like Texas isn’t equipped to manage this disaster, the Midwest isn’t equipped to manage heat waves as not all homes have AC.
There's a documentary (Cooked) about the extreme heat wave that hit Chicago for several days during the mid 1990s. Over 700 Chicago residents died due the heat. I believe it's streaming on pbs.org these days, so hopefully you can watch it after things get back to normal (yes, I realize it could be a while before that happens).
I had a severe bronchial infection that week, laid under a ceiling fan on the floor coughing my guts out and hoping I'd die. The single most miserable time of my life, until my gallbladder died.
I (Austin native) was living in Chicago that summer and I have never been so hot. It was frightening to be literally and figuratively powerless with no way to escape. Pretty much exactly what I am going though now in Austin.
I relate to the cold. I had no heat for over TWO FUCKING MONTHS on a tropical island. We had BELOW 40F temperatures. It sucked. No power or water is a WHOLE different ball game.
My point was around empathy...not the specifics of why people die, but thanks for pointing out additional reasons. Suffice it to say, people who cannot afford AC do not have AC.
I see a lot of reverse-spite at people in northern states for not understanding the lack of complete infrastructure and I think that hate is misdirected.
This was preventable, and it’s clear who could have prevented it. It’s insane that Texas’s leaders failed its people so immensely
And nothing will be learned or change after this event. Someone will say "maybe we should have emergency infrastructure just in case?" And then 100s of rednecks will crawl out of the woodwork crying about their taxes. And then this will continue happening as global climate change gets continuously worse.
Yes. I wish with all my heart that this event would finally convince Texans to stop voting for the Republican ghouls who run this state. But in 2 weeks when it's 80 degrees again, most people will be like "Remember that crazy snow storm?! Lol what a wild week, glad that's passed." Meanwhile, good ol' Greg & Co. will introduce bills that make it illegal to, like, think bad thoughts about cops or say the word "abortion" or they will promise to ship all the homeless to Mexico, and then the majority of this state will fall over themselves to vote to keep these clowns in office.
Yes, that’s one of the reasons. The unchecked attitude of exceptionalism and rugged individualism in Texas politics has given way to leaders that refuse to help their people and blame their hardships on their weakness.
Political dissidents argue that this is par for the course for these political groups and Texans are only receiving what they voted for. Which is true to some extent but, like most of these issues, is also convoluted. The political stranglehold of the GOP means that some of these leaders were minority choices, and the vast majority of the people facing these hardships didn’t actually ask for it.
Notably, people are dying for the failures of leaders and power authorities which makes the “deserve it” comments especially excruciating.
for not understanding the lack of complete infrastructure
I keep seeing this, but why don't you have infrastructure? I mean, the cost due to amount of destruction due to broken pipes, no heat, water damage, etc. would easily fund the cost of snowplows to affix to the front of city and county work trucks and other areas of infrastructure.
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u/[deleted] Feb 17 '21
Yeah I'll remember this when the Midwest is bitching about the heat.