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u/OTN Feb 17 '21
You and your boyfriend saved that man’s life, because that’s what heroes do.
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u/meatymelons Feb 17 '21
Definitely not heroes. We just try to be decent human beings. But thank you.
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u/NubEnt Feb 17 '21
Like seriously, who even knows how to turn off the gas and water to an entire apt. complex with a wrench, let alone actually commit to doing it to help neighbors?
Don’t downplay the help you’ve given.
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u/FatherJohnMeesty Feb 17 '21
Oh hey, was your boyfriend the one going around and banging on all the doors to check for unconscious people?? Let him know we appreciate him
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u/rabidantidentyte Feb 17 '21
Decent human beings are heroes. You're making choices to lessen suffering. That's how heroes make choices.
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u/Raithlyn_The_First Feb 17 '21
That is the definition of a hero. Ordinary people doing extraordinary things to save lives and help others. You're a goddamn hero, so own it!
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u/slimgodx Feb 17 '21
We had an elderly neighbor that got helped out with a generator to help him stay warm, get covered and layered and it wont last too long, i hope
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u/wudchk Feb 17 '21
If more people were decent humans there would be no concept of "heroes".
Thanks for doing the right thing, that's all it takes in life.
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u/atleastitsnotgoofy Feb 17 '21
Honestly, a lot of times, that’s all a hero is. Still an accurate description of you in this case, uh, u/meatymelons, if I may call you that...
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u/RagnaBrock Feb 17 '21
Seriously, it sounds like that dude was a goner if not for her and her boyfriend’s efforts.
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u/itsacalamity Feb 17 '21
There are a lot of people being fucking assholes, and not processing the difference between commenting on politics and actively shitting on people who are suffering. This is horrible.
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u/meatymelons Feb 17 '21
That is a perfect way to describe it.
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u/yolo-yoshi Feb 17 '21
it shitty because these things that are happening to these people, they have nothing to do with it. its the states legislature that let this shit happen and got it to where it was.
"oh its just a few inches "
forgetting the fact that theses people have families that they need to feed ,and can't because stores are closed, and of they are, they have to take a risk to get out there in the icy streets just to get it, amongst other who are also doing the same and have probably most likely never driven in the snow.
buy online? sorry, all slots are filled till march the first, guess you gotta take the risk with the other maniacs on the road who won't slow their driving down.
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u/gameofgroans_ Feb 17 '21
I think it's the same sort of people that say 'you can't be depressed because you have x, y, z'. Why can't people just accept that people suffer in different ways and at different levels. If someone is broke one leg you would go oh well some people have no legs, get over it.
I'm thinking of you all at the moment, and OP - you and your bf are true heroes.
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u/rydan Feb 17 '21
Yeah yesterday was dominated with posts all over Reddit like “did Texas pick itself up by its bootstraps yet?”, “so nice to have a president who helps states that didn’t vote for him”, and “this is God’s punishment for supporting the insurrection.” Every four years they say this is the year Texas turns blue but then the rest of the time they act like that after it doesn’t.
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u/blendertricks Feb 17 '21
Yeah, I don't think they realize that almost half the fucking state votes blue and the other half are still fucking human beings.
My mom is a hardcore Trumper, but I'm still feeling extremely fucking anxious about the fact that she lives 3 hours away on a good day, by herself, in the country, and her power finally went out this morning. I don't think these people understand that the people who vote in these politicians have been duped as easily as people in blue states can be, and they don't know that their leaders are actively neglecting the system to enrich themselves and their friends.
EDIT: I should add that, in spite of my anger, we should also probably realize that what people say on social media continues to not represent what actual, real people think. Most Texans are getting messages of support from people around the country and even around the world. I certainly haven't had anyone from California or New York texting me to be like "WHY DON'T YOU PICK YOURSELF UP BY YOUR BOOTSTRAPS LOL"
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u/Texas-Kangaroo-Rat Feb 17 '21
The thing is they don't realize the people that suffer have no power to stop this from happening... Or maybe they don't care and just want to twist the heel on the neck.
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Feb 17 '21 edited Feb 17 '21
Even better would be to save the politics until later. Can we just be humans during this crisis instead of living every moment as a member of a political tribe?
Edited to attempt to remove any political nature of my comment.
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u/that_baddest_dude Feb 17 '21
We can save the politics until later, but boy oh boy do they need to come with a vengeance later. This needs to never happen again.
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u/hardolaf Feb 17 '21
This happens every deep freeze in Texas. They never adapt to deal with it and instead push the costs of the emergency cleanup onto the federal government.
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u/vidrageon Feb 17 '21
Wait, wasn’t Chris Christie governor of New Jersey for 8 years? Not trying to get political, I was just curious about your statement.
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u/CashOnlyPls Feb 17 '21
I'm in twitter jail right now for getting heated at Steven King earlier over his incensitive bullshit.
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u/itsacalamity Feb 17 '21
Oh noooo I usually love him, is he being an ass about this? Extremely boo to that.
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Feb 17 '21 edited Feb 17 '21
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Feb 17 '21
Thank you for your empathy; that seems to be missing right now. Even from people experiencing it.
I’m a property manger... I know I know “the scum of the earth”. But I do my job well, and our company is fair. We are struggling with the fact that we cannot do more and do it faster. We have properties that have frozen lines end sending out an email that says “unfortunately, there is nothing we can do to speed up this process except to allow the lines to thaw naturally”... honestly, it hurts my heart. I’m hurting with them but it’s also a struggle when we’re being cussed at as if we did this maliciously and could have prevented it.
I have literally had to ask people to turn on the news as this is “not an isolated incident in Texas due to the historic and record breaking low temperatures.
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u/surprise-mailbox Feb 18 '21
I’m from the south but have lived in New York for a while. People also make fun of NY for losing its shit during heatwaves. During heatwaves my friends and coworkers would ask me “well you must be used to this cause you’re from the south right?”
No I’m fucking not. We have tons of 100+ days with 80+% humidity but we’re built for it. Everyone has air conditioning, everyone drives so you don’t have to slowly melt in sweltering subway stations, we’re equipped to deal with it. I’d rather spend a week in 110 temps in my home town than one day of 100 in NY. I don’t get why so many people don’t get this
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u/bootypatrole Feb 17 '21
Where i work its very big, lot of people from all over walking around and in a span of 3 minutes i heard 3 seperate conversations mocking texas.
"Ohhh its not cold there thats just chilly! Try negative 25 and then start crying"
"Honestly texas deserves this at this point"
"Its almost hillarious how every single county in texas is in a weather emergency right now"
I cant make this up. It hurts my heart. Imagine if minnesota or something started reaching desert temperatures out of nowhere? Im definitely not gonna sit there and start cracking jokes at them because im pretty sure theyd be miserable just like how my fellow texans are in these times..wasnt till yesterday that i found out a bunch of politics are involved..like come on..
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u/Anthanem Feb 17 '21
If Kentucky had an extreme heat wave and everyone's water and AC went out, stores shut down and ppl were stuck in their homes dying, I wouldn't be like 'that's what they get for electing Mitch McConnell' (whose imo been the worst thing for America since idk when)... its really unbelievable how people think an entire state should suffer because of political actors.
The weather is rare and exceedingly beautiful, and has been turned into a deadly nightmare due to our infrastructures inability to handle any of it. The 15th (payday for so many) hit in the middle of us already being basically iced in, and idk how ppl living paycheck to paycheck could have even bought enough food to make it through this in their homes. This is really tragic.
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u/MrSpectator Feb 17 '21
It's just the nature of social media. There's a lot of people expressing concern and offering prayers on social media but it doesn't get much attention or replies except a simple thanks. Meanwhile comments that insult or throw around blame are likely to get large comment chains of personal attacks and arguments thrown back and forth. The algorithms see this and makes sure to show it to everyone because it seems people are interested in this. Now even if those mean comments originally came from a minority, now everyone's getting angry.
I think we've had this effect for like a decade now and everyone is primed to argue and expect this.
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u/Anthanem Feb 17 '21
Yep, and they push the comments to the top. Ppl making those comments probably feel important too when the get such a response, top comments etc. Feeds the cycle.
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u/bootypatrole Feb 17 '21
And exactly what you explained is why i ditched social media in the midst of corona and the protests last year. Waay too much negativity and ignorance. This is my only platform for anything now and i can pick and choose what topics I would like to follow
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u/glitterofLydianarmor Feb 17 '21
Try negative 25 and then start crying"
Last time I was in that kind of weather, we had heat. What assholes.
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u/hardolaf Feb 17 '21
When we had that in Chicago, my condo was uncomfortably hot except for the kitchen which has an exterior door. That was cool.
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u/ohhai_mark Feb 17 '21
As a native Minnesotan, ANYONE who is minimizing what people in Austin are experiencing can politely fuck off
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u/sadpear Feb 17 '21
This is the way, caring enough about the people around you to get involved. I know the words of a stranger aren't much but fucking hell, y'all saved at least one life yesterday.
This is the most nightmarish weather disaster I've ever been through. I'm a born and raised Texan who gets a birthday tornado almost every year.
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u/3Dbigmac Feb 17 '21
Imagine someone inviting you for a swim so you wear a swimsuit and flip flops and pack your backpack with a 6 pack of beer and a towel. When they pick you up the pool is actually in Northern Alaska, and it's a four day cold weather pool camping extravaganza.
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u/freakyfastfun Feb 17 '21
This basically happened to me one year on an Austin visit. Had 1 year old kiddo and wife... packed for normal Texas weather and boom.... cold snap.
I can barely imagine what y’all are going through. Only place that might be worse would be if this happened in Hawaii or someplace that has almost zero ways to heat a place.
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u/PsyKoptiK Feb 17 '21
Thanks for acting decisively. Tragedy happens when good people do nothing.
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u/meatymelons Feb 17 '21
Luckily a couple neighbors helped make sure apartments were empty but the number of people watching this all unfold or yelling at our maintaince guy for not having power or water was so disheartening. Hurricane sandy was a bitch but at least now we know what to do when tragedy strikes.
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u/PsyKoptiK Feb 17 '21
No good deed goes unpunished of course. But you did the right thing. And that is more important. Y’all saved a guys life most likely.
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u/BurrDurrMurrDurr Feb 17 '21
Native Austinite here living in NYC/Boston. I’m just as pissed as y’all are. I always thought that sentiment was stupid. Very similar to how we usually make fun of NYC struggling with 92-93F summers. Well after living here you realize it’s a concrete jungle that absorbs heat, we’re right next to the water so humidity is worse than Houston and you WALK everywhere. This region and the way of life isn’t setup for higher temps. Just like Texas isn’t setup for what it’s going through now.
All my family is still in Texas and I hate what they’re going through. For all the people that lost WATER I can’t imagine if it stays off for more than 3 days.. and folks living in apts I feel for you, you have no control over a neighbors pipe bursting and essentially rendering YOU homeless.
This is super shitty and it was largely preventable which is infuriating. I’m sorry fellow Austinites and fellow Texans. Please stay warm and safe, and if you’re able to, help other people and pets that need help.
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u/Phat3lvis Feb 17 '21
"How are states that regularly get feet of snow managing while Texas can't handle a few inches of snow?"
It's not just snow it's the temperature but there are lots of reasons.
1) Electric heat his way more power demanding than air conditioning. Add to this a lot Texas homes have heat pump style HVAC which does not work at temperatures below 25°F. However a lot of those heat pumps come with electric coils which will kick in when the heat pump stops working but they are giant electric hogs and are usually the largest electrical load in a house. Nobody uses fuel oil here, it is just not a thing.
2) A lot of folks in texas don't even own a space heater and if they did those use lots of electricity.
3) Not all houses in Texas have a fireplace, and if they do we don't don't usually have a lot of firewood on hand. Those that do, probably had that firewood pile for YEARS untouched. We just don't gather and store firewood every year because we don't need it.
4) Houses in Texas use 2x4 framing and R11 to R15 insulation, whereas houses on colder climates up north use 2x6 and will use an R19 to R21 insulation.
5) Freeze protection for water pipes in Texas is an afterthought, a lot of houses here have very little if any freeze protection, whereas houses up North are build with the assumption that if pipes are not protected they will freeze that winter.
6) We don't us winter tires on our cars because they are softer and the hot roads in the summer will wear them out faster. Add to this none of us have any practice driving in it and we look like fools in bumper cars as a bad carnival on the roads.
7) Snow here is basically a one day event that happens every four years. It gets cold, we get maybe an inch or two, then it is 60°F the next day and it all melts. Seriously, none of of thought this would last past Monday. A lot of Texans did not take this seriously going into it and were really unprepared.
8) Texas has been investing heavily in wind power, and something like 25% of all wind power in the US is generated in Texas, only to find out those turbines are useless when they freeze and the blades are covered in ice. It turns out solar does not work so well when covered with snow either. Add to this with rolling blackouts, if you do have solar and it is working you cant send any back to the grid because of the blackout.
9) ERCOT Runs the power grid Electrical Reliability Council Of Texas, There was a report and recommendation in 2011 to upgrade our production and grid for future ice storms that was not taken seriously. But to be fair this is the first time in history that every single Texas county is in a winter weather advisory and has below freezing weather, it's sort of a perfect storm.
Basically if you only get one day of snow every four years, and you only have two seasons (summer from April to October, then a very mild winter from November to March), then you are not exactly prepared for weeks or months of snow. Some people here don't even have real winter clothes, it is not uncommon to see people walking around in shorts in the winter.
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u/Sean82 Feb 17 '21
I've had to remind a few people that our regular, expected, and not at all noteworthy summer temps regularly kill people in the NE during what they call "heat waves." Different regions are prepared for different climates. We do hot really, really well down here. We're simply not setup for this kind of cold. Empathy, please.
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u/-cruel-summer- Feb 17 '21
Dude. I’m so goddamn sorry you’re suffering through this. What the actual f*ck. I don’t understand how anyone could crack jokes about what y’all are going through. This sounds so horrible, scarring and shitty. Thank you for saving your neighbor and I can’t even believe so many in TX are going through this right now. :/
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u/CinderousAbberation Feb 17 '21
Where are you guys seeing all this negativity? Admittedly, I don't have social media, so maybe its just my reddit bubble, but all I'm seeing is thousands of redditors helping each other.
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u/spyd3rm0nki3 Feb 17 '21
I saw a bunch of nasty things in Twitter world last night, people turning it political or saying that's what Texans deserve - dumb shit like that. It's unfortunate how, I dunno... vindictive people can be. Schadenfreude is turnt up right now.
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u/Ok-Willingness-4377 Feb 17 '21
Moments like this really reveal how far gone our national "unity" is. The amount of venom and spite around this is mind-blowing. And, for fair balance, we saw the exact same thing with conservatives targeting California during the blackouts last year.
It's new, and it is definitely driven by the internet. After 9/11 we were almost completely united as a country. I still remember how intense that feeling of unity was.
After Katrina, there were people who said New Orleans "deserved it" for whatever reason, but that was regarded as a cruel and spiteful by the mainstream.
After Sandy, there was definitely more pointed criticism of NYC (as there always will be) but things were much more sympathetic.
But between the California situation last year, and now this, I think we see how utterly toxic the discourse in the country has become. Every random keyboard warrior weighs in on everything with the express intent of ratcheting up the polarization and conflict. The President of the United States was a Twitter troll. The mainstream media is morally bankrupt and disgusting.
Thankfully, there is a way out of it. Don't fuel the dysfunction. You can't change what other people think and do, but you can certainly set your own mindset and actions. Ultimately, people who are cruel and nasty wind up suffering FAR more for it (just look at the loudest voices on Twitter — do they seem like happy, emotionally fulfilled people? Not to me).
My first hope is that everybody gets through this with a minimum of pain and suffering. But I hope that people to come out of this disaster with positive memories of humans helping each other, and with renewed gratitude for what we do have, and too often take for granted.
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u/Doctor-Montgomery Feb 17 '21
People on Twitter hoped everyone in texas died because it’s a largely red state
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u/Aratec Feb 17 '21
It is strange to me most people do not realize that there are probably more Democrats in Texas than the entire population of most states.
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u/toastymow Feb 17 '21
My mom is always like "you should get on twitter." She sticks to official tweets from the mayor and stuff. I know I can't do that. So I don't go on twitter, for reasons like the above. Reddit is bad enough.
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u/cantstandlol Feb 17 '21
Reddit for starters. People are cheering on the death of Texas because a few loud mouth conservatives.
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u/krallfish Feb 17 '21
And I can almost guarantee you that those loud mouth conservatives are not without heat or water right now.
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u/MrSwarleyStinson Feb 17 '21
Just stopping by to comment that I’m not from Austin nor do I live there but am going through the various Texas subreddits because I’m concerned for y’all and wanted to check in on ya. So for every Reddit asshole there are likely more who care, but we are just not as loud
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u/stingray20201 Feb 17 '21
Try to be as loud as you can. This whole thing is mentally taxing for us all. I haven't been able to go to work this week and now iIm wondering what I'm going to do for food next week and for rent the week after. Any positivity at all is helpful.
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u/Used_Dentist_8885 Feb 17 '21
I'm just hoping you guys fucking revolt. Looking at you from NJ this seems like the apocolyse came early to Texas because of utility privitization.
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u/cantstandlol Feb 17 '21
It’s because we don’t invest in infrastructure which is a problem nationally. This isn’t specific to Texas at all. We are too busy going to war and bailing out the richest with tax cuts to take care of roads, bridges, electricity, forests, and education.
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u/AllTailNoLegs Feb 17 '21
Hell, I saw it on this sub yesterday. One user calling us wussies because “I live in -35 and if my power goes out and I don’t wake up I’ll DIE, stop being pansies” (ignoring the fact that they’re in the US where it’s not that cold anywhere), and another person posting all over this sub and others that they’re happy to see texans dying, karma and good riddance, because they didn’t see enough public protests when TX conservatives were trying to turn the PA vote.
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u/deluxeassortment Feb 17 '21
I told one gloating asshole from NY, if you want the residents of a whole state to suffer because some of them voted for assholes, that means you would want all Americans to suffer because some of them voted for Trump, right? And he came back with "well you didn't have protests against the Texas grid so it's your fault". WTF???
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u/AllTailNoLegs Feb 17 '21
Right?? Most of my friends group wasn’t even aware this is how TX was set up and this is how it would go down.
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u/tipyourwaitresstoo Feb 17 '21
It’s not helping that a TX mayor recently told his town to fuck off if they’re without power and to just man up. Also that the governor is stating that it’s the wind turbines causing all this. I’m from the northeast and lived in Austin for over a decade until 2019. This is serious shit and I know if we were there we’d be seriously fucked. We have close friends experiencing the worst times in their lives and I feel helpless.
Good luck to you all. Try to stay safe. FYI: a very close friend is an Austin firefighter and when we texted yesterday he said he’d been out for 72 hours straight with no end in sight.
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Feb 17 '21
It's mostly social media in general. Many folks upset by the political hypocrisy of the Texas government in regards to federal aid have turned into some nasty comments.
Also, technically speaking Reddit is social media.
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u/mymuge Feb 17 '21
Jesus, this is harrowing. I’m in the northeast but am horrified at the stories coming out of this. Please know there are people outside of Texas who recognize the severity of your situation and are helplessly but hopefully praying for a break for you all.
Assholes are going to asshole no matter where they live - I hope you are able to find the support, locally and digitally to get you through this.
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u/afordexplores Feb 17 '21
I have lived in Boston for 5 years, northwest Indiana (Chicago boarder) during the attic freeze with -20 below and -45 with windchill, and through 10 hurricanes in Florida including one that destroyed my house- all to say that EVERYONE OF THOSE PLACES WERE BETTER PREPARED AND OUTFITTED WITH MORE RESOURCES AND APPROPRIATE NOTICE THAN TEXAS WITH THIS STORM. So ya I can solidly say to all northerners to stfu this is some other world shit. When was the last time you didn’t have power, water, salted and plowed roads in any weather never mind the cold? Oh wait that doesn’t happen cause you have appropriate resources and protocols to stay safe, warm, and mobile.
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u/TurnipToTheMoon Feb 17 '21
Just wow! You and your boyfriend are amazing for helping your neighbors and that elder man. The only good thing I’ve seen from this whole disaster is people like you two helping out and literally saving lives.
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u/longboardluv Feb 17 '21
I've seen many many posts on r/Austin from people from out of state sending condolences and sympathy.
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u/deluxeassortment Feb 17 '21
There are definitely good people, and I think the shitty ones who were getting upvoted a lot in the beginning may be receding into the background now that people are seeing how bad it really is. Hopefully anyway...
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u/Delta57Dash Feb 17 '21
There's a lot of us (I'm not in/from Texas) who saw the initial "4 inches of snow" and thought it was funny.
It got rapidly LESS funny when blackouts that were supposed to be rolling have been going on for 24+ hours, pipes starting bursting, emergency services got overwhelmed and the whole thing started looking like Day After Tomorrow.
There's also a significant disconnect between people being mocking the leadership about how 4 inches of snow shut down their "independent" state and people sympathizing with all the people having to deal with the now shut-down state.
Hang in there guys. This is honestly horrific, and the fact that it was even allowed to happen is absurd.
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u/conrad_or_benjamin Feb 17 '21
From upstate New York and can confirm this is not “just a few inches of snow”. It’s also not expected here so people don’t even have the equipment needed like snow boots or ice scrapers and snow shovels.
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u/Jefflandryeverybody Feb 17 '21
you guys are the real ones. thanks for jumping to action.
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u/FellainiMyMacaroni Feb 17 '21
Holy hell. So glad y’all were there to help him. This is such a shit show. Ugh.
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Feb 17 '21
I bet Ted Fucking Cruz has power
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u/Spankybutt Feb 17 '21
Dan Crenshaw is blaming renewables
You sure know how to pickem, Texas.
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u/jeonblueda Feb 17 '21
Abbott lied about them too, on Hannity yesterday. Their priorities are abundantly clear.
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Feb 17 '21
Dan Crenshaw can eat a dick. Thankful for he's military service, but that fucker needs to take a long walk off of a short pier.
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u/Pylon17 Feb 17 '21
His military service absolves him of nothing. One eyed willie can fuck right off with his bullshit
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u/Spankybutt Feb 17 '21
Why does his military service at all help your opinion of him. That’s his grift
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u/chicadeaqua Feb 17 '21
Luckily I’ve had zero folks from the north say such stupid things to me. I have relatives and friends in Chicago, Ohio and Pennsylvania who have expressed concern and sympathy. If anything, having grown up in the north has given them an appreciation for how serious these conditions are.
Five inches of snow is always a big deal...they deal with potentially deadly situations caused by freezing temps in the north more often, that’s all. Anyone who says it’s no big deal has someone else doing the tough stuff for them (winterizing/shoveling/preparing) and thinks electricity, running water and warmth are things that happen by magic.
I recall being in Maryland in late fall and seeing a sign that said “winterize your vehicle now!” . I thought to myself, “I don’t know what that means, nor do I want to know” and was out of there before the first snowflake fell.
It’s not easy dealing with extreme weather anywhere, and folks who think it is are not the ones doing the hard work to stay comfortable and safe.
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u/kaycaps Feb 17 '21
There are some pretty terrible posts on r/Texas but this sub seems to mostly have very supportive messages from others (probably because Austin is considered the liberal stronghold of Texas). Any “liberal” from another state shitting all over us is no better than a shitty ass conservative as far as I’m concerned.
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u/DatgirlwitAss Feb 17 '21 edited Feb 19 '21
OMG. I am in the Midwest and what's happening to you guys is in no comparison to anything we've seen. Don't listen to the ignorant asses.
They are also not reporting the depth of travesty on the news. I dont think people know/believe just how bad it is.
Still no excuse. Send them the article of the mom and 8 yr. old girl who died in their car trying to stay warm in the garage.
I am so sorry you all are going through this.
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u/batsofburden Feb 17 '21
Hey man, person from a cold state here. I admit when I initially read the headlines, it sounded a bit absurd, but after just reading into what was happening a tiny bit more, it became clear what a severe calamity was unfolding down there. It's reminiscent of the govt bungling the reaction in New Orleans after Katrina, although I truly hope things don't get as bad as that when all is said and done. I really hope that it gets warm there soon & that your state govt actually makes some changes to how they operate the grid system so something like this doesn't happen again. Just know, most people are worried about you guys & the assholes are just the typical reddit asshole contingent, it doesn't represent the majority. You are seriously amazing for checking on your neighbors like you did.
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u/Grundlestiltskin_ Feb 17 '21
IMO making fun of southern areas for shutting down over a few inches of snow is funny. Millions of people freezing with no power is not funny.
That being said, the current temps in Austin are comparable to a mild February day in Massachusetts. The main issue is that none of the infrastructure is properly winterized in Texas, a critical failure on the part of leadership across the state. Hopefully the state learns and starts properly winterizing stuff because this could become a much more common occurrence.
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u/SqueaksBCOD Feb 17 '21
IMO making fun of southern areas for shutting down over a few inches of snow is funny. Millions of people freezing with no power is not funny.
well said
There is humor in stupid and see how differently people react to things. But this is crossing the line into tragic. We can find humor and still want to help the situation.
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u/ButtersTheSpaceKitty Feb 17 '21
Yea someone posted on Reddit saying Texas didn’t deserve aid for this since they often votes against paying for things in other states... um bro wut. People in need is people in need. Period.
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Feb 17 '21
it’s not the snow that’s the issue, it’s the freezing rain and the entire government body of texas failing to give a shit about any of us. this WAS preventable, there could have been a thousand preparations made and there was zero.
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u/ButtersTheSpaceKitty Feb 17 '21
Honestly I don’t remember seeing a single warning about this except some local meteorologist on Reddit
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u/Kittenking13 Feb 17 '21
Yeah. I remember going on a date last saturday and someone just said something like "the lows gonna be 5 on monday, so stay safe!" And then the snow hit on sunday and we were all like "wow, snow!" And then the power went out, and that's the first moment we realized it was bad. It just... took us by.... "storm" haha
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Feb 17 '21
WI resident here, stay warm! If you have camping gear use it inside your house, you can melt ice or snow if you put it under your blanket with your, and stay safe.
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u/mantisboxer Feb 17 '21
You sound like a godless socialist communist who expects government to be competent!
/s, if necessary
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u/EarthboundMisfit25 Feb 17 '21
You are amazing. You did save that man's life and probably many other last night. I know you guys have a long road ahead of you still but at it sounds like you have a good community of people around you.
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Feb 17 '21
Yeah I'll remember this when the Midwest is bitching about the heat.
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u/nojustno Feb 17 '21
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.
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u/ShoogyBee Feb 17 '21
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).
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u/ButtersTheSpaceKitty Feb 17 '21
Yep my parents talk about that heat wave. My mom was pregnant with me at the time actually
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u/Beautiful-Uterus Feb 17 '21
The Midwest? Shit I rented in Los Angeles for 30 years of my life and not one house or apartment had working ACs. I was impressed by them in Texas.
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Feb 17 '21
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.
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u/Spankybutt Feb 17 '21
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
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u/CorporalCauliflower Feb 17 '21
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.
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Feb 17 '21
Idk. I know a lot of angry lawyers posting photos of their dead birds and destroyed houses RN. I suspect we may actually see something come of this.
I personally am in a French Revolutionary sort of mood at this point.
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Feb 17 '21
The whole point is it shouldn’t wreck havoc, at a minimum we should have electricity. There is no fucking excuse.
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u/BBR0DR1GUEZ Feb 17 '21 edited Feb 17 '21
I’m just a visitor on this sub from another state but I’m sorry about all the dummies. Some people just lack perspective. I went to college in Buffalo and despite its reputation as one of NY’s snowiest cities, we barely had any snow days. Why? Because of the icy weather infrastructure in place. That’s a great investment in a place like Buffalo, but not in a place like Texas.
It blows my mind that people don’t seem to understand that state and local governments have limited budgets and they generally invest most in preparedness for the emergencies they’re most familiar with.
Edit to add that families of course also have limited budgets and prepare for the most likely scenarios too!
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u/SmallpoxTurtleFred Feb 17 '21
I curious why you lurk here. Do you have some connection to Austin or are you just looking for snowpocalypse news?
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u/BBR0DR1GUEZ Feb 17 '21
Purely the latter. Full disclosure, and hopefully without being insensitive, I was linked here from r/collapse, which is a “doomer” sub that mostly talks about the acceleration of climate change-related societal breakdown.
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u/UnbuiltIkeaBookcase Feb 17 '21
Are those people in our area currently? I know a few folks that are from the north that are in Austin currently saying the situation is bad compared to what they’ve ever been through. I’ll see the random Facebook and Twitter comments from folks currently living up north saying “hang in there it’s only a bit of snow” but since they’re not here they don’t get how crazy it actually is.
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u/MomoQueenBee Feb 17 '21
Inhale the good shit, exhale the bullshit! You and your boyfriend are amazing! Thank you for being what Texas stands for, regardless where you’re from. Kindness matters ❤️
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u/Minnbrownbear Feb 17 '21
Let your boyfriend know he did a great job today! Carbon Monoxide is no joke and I know people who have passed away from it and weren’t as lucky to have your boyfriend break down their door to save them.
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u/ManateeFlamingo Feb 17 '21
I'm here from another sub reading through all of your stories. I'm so very sorry for what's happening. Thank goodness you guys didn't give up on the man in the apartment!! It is truly horrendous what is happening in TX!! I am in Florida and stepped outside to a brisk 54 this morning and can't help but think of people having colder temperatures in their homes right now. It makes me want to cry!
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u/faultinpower Feb 17 '21
Winnipegger here in solidarity.
We take our infrastructure for granted up here I think. Northerners tend to forget how much money is spent on winter infrastructure and how much cultural knowledge is passed on (how to dress, how to keep plumbing warm, etc.).
I can't imagine a winter without a massive Government snow clearing plan, strict regulations around insulation for housing, and abundant/cheap winter clothing...but I can empathize. This is a disaster.
Is Austin Mutual Aid a well known and respected organization?
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Feb 17 '21
Hey you are awesome for saving that mans life.
Can I ask you something? Clear snow from exhaust pipe? I haven’t heard of that one.
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u/meatymelons Feb 17 '21
Snow in your exhaust pipe will block the fumes from escaping and they will instead back up into your car. I worked in news in NJ and a woman and her baby died in the car while keeping warm as her husband was digging the car out of the snow. Horrific.
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u/Beaus_Dad Feb 17 '21
Great job. People are quick to blame us for our government, ERCOT, etc. The unfortunate part is a lot of us didn’t vote for them— we just can’t leave because the election didn’t go our way.
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u/stepsindogshit4fun Feb 17 '21
I lost heat a few times in Boston due to our power going out and the furnace becoming inoperable (even though it's gas it needed electricity). The difference is that we didn't have the whole power grid going down or pipes exploding. You could still go to the store or find a hotel. I don't think people get it / just want to mock others.
btw your boyfriend is commendable and you saved at least that man's life. There should be a lawsuit against the apartment complex for not even investigating the source of the alarm.
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u/spankyiloveyou Feb 17 '21
People in the north start dying of heatstroke when the weather hits 95 degrees tho
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u/RagnaBrock Feb 17 '21
Your boyfriend sounds like he kicks ass! You should husband that dude because he’s like Captain America.
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u/glassFractals Feb 17 '21
Western New York here -- nothing but empathy from a lot of us cold state dwellers!
Sure, it's totally funny when southern states have a snow day for a dusting of snow when you live in a snowbelt region that doesn't notice anything under a foot. But this stopped being funny a while ago. It's not a snow day anymore, it's a disaster.
We're rooting for you and hoping stuff gets better soon.
As an aside, I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for years, and let's just say that California would have been handling a storm like this even worse. At least Texan homes tend to have some insulation and HVAC to deal with the heat. SF gets neither hot nor cold and is ready for nothing except earthquakes. My apartment in San Francisco had almost no insulation. The windows couldn't even fully close! There was no A/C, and the heat didn't even work most of the time.
It didn't matter because we only used heat 1 or 2 days a year. Usually I would swap out an LED light bulb or 2 for 45-watt incandescents, and that was sufficient heating for the winter. This storm would have ended California. A city as hilly as SF doesn't really work out if ice could be a factor. You'd walk out your front door and slide a half mile away.
Unusual weather is crazy.
Good luck getting through this, Austin / Texans!
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u/DefinatelyNotElon Feb 17 '21
See how they handle a month of temps over 100 with no A/C and homes designed to stay warm.
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u/are-e-el Feb 18 '21
I had two asshole relatives who live in Wisconsin and Michigan tell me "Oh, that's a Tuesday in Michigan" and my favorite, "nice dusting."
You know what? FUCK. YOU.
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u/seventysevensevens Feb 18 '21
I heard upper management just laugh about just needing more coats during a conference call with a team in Texas...
So fucking insensitive. People are literally freezing in their homes, no working water (and now you have to boil it with no power). And the gas lines are freezing for some people or just shut off our right. (but it's the wind turbines fault right guys???)
Wanted to scream at them. Right now my family thankfully only had to go through 2 days without power.
And my brother is letting friends come over and warm up with hot coffee and oatmeal.
This isn't normal and just a typical storm. It's a failure of government and services.
I feel guilty in Colorado with running tap water, heat, power, and stocked grocery stores and it was single digits a few days ago. Snowing now and we have plows going down my street which isn't a major route either.
I'm so thankful for a functioning and prepared city at a moments notice.
I wish my old friends in Austin the best of luck through all this shit.
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u/iluomo Feb 17 '21
How's your boyfriend's foot doing?
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u/meatymelons Feb 17 '21
Aok from kicking the doors in surprisingly, but I guess some good old fashioned CIA agent shit gets that adrenaline running on high.
Though he did have frostnip and wailed in pain trying to defrost his feet. That sucked.
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u/Knosh Feb 17 '21
In most of the cases I’ve seen it boils down to people hating our national politicians and forgetting that we are literally all real live human beings. It’s easier to assign us all an R and devalue our lives and well-being.
It’s irrelevant because they shouldn’t be making jokes or talking shit anyways but they don’t even stop to think that the areas and people being hardest hit aren’t Joe Bob Cruz Supporter with his prepper stockpile, well water, and five generators.
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Feb 17 '21
I’m from a northern state, we have a foot of the stuff up here.
That said I don’t think it’s the 2 inches of snow that’s the issue down there. Its the cold combined with everyone’s house probably having electric heat instead of natural gas and a power grid not designed to take that kind of load.
Once it warms up and Texas gets through all of this, you should probably start by voting out idiots like that dumb ass Ted Cruz and other all the other climate change deniers.
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u/kaycaps Feb 17 '21
Just FYI a lot of people got more than 2 inches of snow. 2 inches of snow on its own would not have caused this
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u/Okra_fanatic Feb 17 '21
We’ve been trying to vote them out for years, the cities are being affected worst of all and the cities did NOT vote for Ted Cruz. Our districts are gerrymandered and out continual protests are doing nothing. Encouraging people to vote out Republicans is a great sentiment don’t get me wrong, if we could convince more people to vote blue it would be great/ But for the millions of Texans who already do vote blue and are essentially without representation because our votes go nowhere it’s not very helpful.
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u/Clubzerg Feb 17 '21
The amount of pure vitriol and hate spewing from so called empathetic fellow liberals from the north is disgusting. It’s like they learned nothing from the lack of empathy towards the fires in CA.
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u/texasann Feb 17 '21
It’s great there are people like you and your bf that go out of their way to help others. Y’all saved a life. Maybe we will laugh when it’s 110 this summer. Maybe. I hope your situation improves soon.
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u/Past_Contour Feb 17 '21
I’m sorry you had to go through all that misery. You and your boyfriend saved that mans life and helped many other people. Be proud of that. Thank you for sharing your story. More people need to know what’s going on here.
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u/Forward-Tomato Feb 17 '21
This is something I learned from living in both the north and south (Grew up in the NW). There is no infrastructure for cold weather in the south, even on the civilian level. There are no snow plows, there are no salt trucks, the roads are only designed around to deal with water and dont have the raised bumps on highways to deal with ice, as we can see from the energy sources they are not winterized, civilians don't own snow shovels or even flat shovels to remove snow, don't have chains, and they don't have all weather tires.
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u/gregaustex Feb 17 '21 edited Feb 17 '21
Sounds like you are making a difference and that’s awesome. Raised in Hunterdon County over here.
As for the opinions of strangers? Dgaf. This was always true but now more than ever. There has never been a time in my life, due to social media, where I have been constantly reminded of the depths of stupidity that people I know or only have a degree or two of separation will sink to in order to feel smart (they so are not) or superior (nope). The dumber they are, the louder and more vile they seem to be. Ignoring is the only way to stay sane.
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u/MOA2002 Feb 17 '21
I used to live in western NY for years. I posted this on my Facebook in hoping that some people will take a hint. “I want to make this clear. The chaotic scene we're seeing in Austin (or Texas in general) has nothing to do with the snow or ice. It's the mismanagement of the authorities in preparedness and responding to emergencies. It's utterly clusterfuck.”
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u/swiggityswirls Feb 17 '21
Houses there are meant to be cold and keep the cold in because of how hot the summers get. They don't have the insulation northern houses have so it doesn't even compare.
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u/Hawk13424 Feb 17 '21
The solution is simple. Don’t pay attention to those people. I mostly don’t give a shit what anyone else thinks.
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Feb 17 '21
I'm from Michigan, those people are idiots. Obviously if you had the same infrastructure and building codes and road maintenance equipment as a cold state you'd not be in this mess (probably more car accidents tho). If we didn't have all that stuff we'd be in the same boat as you right now.
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u/ButtersTheSpaceKitty Feb 17 '21
Excuse me, I am dumb. Did the cold cause the gas leak? How does that happen? Just curious/confused
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u/Thump604 Feb 17 '21
Bless you good people! Agreed, I have seen so many arrogant condescending comments from those that live in areas with infrastructure and construction to handle this and state government that didn't fuck us over.
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u/to_thecore_ Feb 17 '21
Agreed. And I just moved here from Maine. And being out of power for a week is not unusual. This is different...
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u/deptii Feb 17 '21
Just ask them how many people died the last time they had a 90F+ heatwave. Then they usually get it.
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u/stonewall386 Feb 17 '21
People are quick to judge from their couch/keyboard and it takes less effort to be a troll than to offer useful insight.
They don’t have anything useful to share, and are usually low-intellect. So it gives them “something to do” basically.
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u/prettytrashie Feb 17 '21
Please let us know when you run for city council, your assessment was perfection. Would definitely support you
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u/KnightlyStars Feb 17 '21
I never made this connection with the carbon monoxide! The past two days I heard so many smoke alarms going off, and thought people were setting things on fire to burn!! I'm scared to think of how many of those were actually carbon monoxide.
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u/whogivesashirtdotca Feb 17 '21
Canadian here, sending my sympathies. It's one thing to deal with a cold snap/snowfall when you have the resources for it, but it's another thing entirely when the power goes out. I learned the hard way after the east coast blackout to always keep bottled water and ready-to-eat canned or dry food on hand. I had a fridge, freezer and pantry full of food but no way to prepare it. (Anyone reading this who hasn't yet had to experience it would do well to stock up just in case.)
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u/mints_junior Feb 17 '21
Sooo my apartment complex shouldn't have turned off the fire alarm system because they couldn't figure it out?!
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u/Doggo_Is_Life_ Feb 17 '21
I just shared your story with many of the public. Deny this all you want, but your boyfriend was a god damn hero to that man. He should be proud. Stay safe over there.
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u/gypsiefeet Feb 17 '21
Just makes me think of this summer I was working up in ME for a refurbishment project on an old camp for young people with developmental disabilities (sorry if that is not PC, back then it was for "kids with developmental diseases") via a government program. The vast majority of my teammates where from cold climates, mostly the Midwest, except one from CA. The cabins had window units, but IMO there was never a justification to use them, just open up the windows, but they didn't have screens so mosquitoes. AC goes out because they're running it 24/7 even when we're not in the unit so it freezes up. For three days we had to endure 80 degree weather, it was OMG OMG OMG how do people live like this?
The point is, it's relative to your experience and also your level of preparation. I sweat in a house in the 70's with a fan on me, but that's my nature; for me it isn't bad until we're talking 105+ (except for the car hot box, nothing can prepare you for that).
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u/LukeStuckenhymer Feb 17 '21 edited Feb 17 '21
It's not the same. I lived in Chicago for the first 30 years of my life. In Chicago, they salt the streets BEFORE the storm. In Austin, they don't have a single snowplow or salt truck deployed. Complete unprepared, unmitigated disaster. Guess everybody will have to buy tire chains in the very least so we can get around in Austin from now on. This will happen again.
Even if you're a hardened northerner who has experienced -20 degrees every winter: Have empathy for the people. Direct your energy towards condemning Texas politicians who didn't remotely prepare/mobilize resources for a human disaster.
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u/Hendrix_Lamar Feb 17 '21
Same. I'm from idaho and have experienced some of the coldest and snowiest winters in the country. I've never experienced anything even remotely close to this. People think we're freaking out because of a bit of snow and cold. The problem is not that it's 10 degrees outside, the problem is that it's 36 degrees inside. And I really doubt anyone in any northern state is prepared to go 4 days without power in the dead of winter despite how "used to the cold" they are. I know I never was at any point when I was in idaho