Another “once in a lifetime” freeze in Texas

Support your community
Shop deals on ebay
shop deals on amazon
Advertise with us
Plumbing Forums

Help Support Plumbing Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Water heater outside.
Well pumps and tanks outside.
Water softener outside.
Water filters outside.
Water pipes and shutoffs and valves sticking up out of the ground two feet before going into the house.
There have now been at least three major freeze events in about ten years.
Climate change says time to plumb like Chicago from now on.
 
As kids, my friends and I used to go to a big empty parking lot and practice driving in snow or slush.
Great training for driving on bad roads in snow.
Sliding around, steering, braking, and of course doing some fun donuts.
No need for ABS, just pump the brakes.
And it became instinctive how to react when the front or back end was sliding out.
 
Not everyone in Texas is unprepared. Yeah, there are some jerry-rigged plumbing jobs out there, but things done right never make the news. This weather event was pretty normal.
 
BlueSkyHigh said:
And those on I-95 in Virginia...........
Click to expand...

Was THAT ever a cluster*&^& of complete lack of preparation by VDOT. For decades, starting when I was in college in Pittsburgh in the 1970s and extending to my daughter in college in Philadelphia recently, the preparedness of PENNDOT on the PA Turnpike, as well as Ohio DOT on the Ohio Turnpike has been nothing short of stellar. They stage plows and salt trucks strategically along the corridors. Emergency vehicles at the ready. When winter storms threaten, they are ready. Guess VA doesn't listen to the weather reports. Here is sunny NC, we were hearing about this coming storm days before it arrived. What did they do in VA? Apparently nothing. Not a fault of the people, but of the state.
 
BlueSkyHigh said:
^^^ What the DIY-Guy said! "Poor" Senator Tim Kaine, I think he had to fill several vente-sized empty cups of Starbucks during his twenty or so hours getting into work from Richmond.
Click to expand...

We've traveled north from NC several times in the past couple of years, to DC, NY etc. We avoid I95 at all costs. It's a total mess all the time. From DC S to Fredriksburg, like a parking lot so often. Thankfully WAZE and my other Nav apps route us around 95. It's rarely the best choice if you can avoid it. WAZE knows...;)
 
When staying in McLean over Christmas and returning home here, WAZE routed me on US 29 S. Heading N to NY on the same trip, it's up I81 to Harrisburgh and then NE on 78. Avoid DC, avoid 95. I just listen to WAZE, never routed me poorly.
 
Aggie83 said:
Not everyone in Texas is unprepared. Yeah, there are some jerry-rigged plumbing jobs out there, but things done right never make the news. This weather event was pretty normal.
Click to expand...

The thing with Texas is that in a lot of the city’s the main water line to the house comes out of the ground a couple feet on the side of the house and then enters the house.

This is not good for any location that even sometimes freezes. It’s plain stupid.
 
We had a low of 11 degree's last night. I can't even get on the street yet because it hasn't been plowed yet. It's
pretty deep. Plus there is frozen ice under it. We got 10" of snow Thursday on top of the ice. That's Ohio for you.
 
Jeff Handy said:
As kids, my friends and I used to go to a big empty parking lot and practice driving in snow or slush.
Great training for driving on bad roads in snow.
Sliding around, steering, braking, and of course doing some fun donuts.
No need for ABS, just pump the brakes.
And it became instinctive how to react when the front or back end was sliding out.
Click to expand...
My dad was an ex military pilot. He learned the value of training and passed it down to us kids. We spent hours driving with him in empty snow covered parking lots and back woods 'roads' when we were learning to drive as well as after we got our license - just to practice. He always said: "you got to know how your vehicle will react in varying conditions so you know how to properly control it" Yea, lots of snow and no abs. Usually had winter tires, sometimes not. Learned the value of a full tank of gas in a snow storm as well as the hazards, like having the back end catch up with the front end under certain conditions.
 
My dad was driving, I was about twelve, we hit black ice.
Going about 50 on a long straight road.
The car started to rotate.
He just let it do its thing, no steering or brakes.
We did a perfect 360 and when he was pointed the right way he gave it some gas and we were ok.
Neither of us said a thing during the event, it was too shocking to even process.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top