In February of 2021 the US was hit by a pair of historic winter storms, only days apart. They brought record low temperatures, snow, and ice to the US, northern Mexico, and southern Canada. The first North American winter storm arrived on February 13th and left, moving off across the north Atlantic, on February 17th. The second arrived on February 15th and left on the 20th. Both storms hit Texas.
The results were catastrophic. Our power grid collapsed and 4.5 million people were left in freezing houses. Some 250 Texans died (out of a total US death toll of 276). Some estimates of total Texas deaths reached as high as 700. With roads snowed in and no heating, many people – primarily elderly and living alone – froze to death in their homes.
Without electricity, water treatment plants shut down and boil-water orders were issued. In many places, the water supply was simply turned off.
Here at home, we were lucky. We live close to a fire station and a new hospital, and so our section of the electricity grid was prioritized and our lights stayed on, but our water was off for 4 days. We had had some warning and managed to save enough drinking water before the faucets ran dry, but for everything else, including the critters, we used snow-melt.
We heat and cook with propane – we’re in the city of Austin but for some mysterious reason our side of the street isn’t supplied with natural gas – and our propane tank ran dry so we melted the snow in kitchen pots in front of the fire. One thing I’ll say about snow: Even when it looks absolutely pristine, once you melt it, you realize that there’s a lot of stuff in there that you don’t want to be drinking. We felt very lucky that we’d managed to store enough clean water before we were cut off.
The critters weren’t so lucky; they got snow melt, but we don’t think they minded. They knew they could rely on us for water, and with all their normal supplies frozen solid, we became an important life-line for birds and animals alike. We worried about how the critters – especially small birds – would survive in temperatures that dropped as low as 6 or 7 degrees F (that’s about -14C), especially given the fact that none of our local wildlife is used to extremely cold weather. We put tarps and towels out in the porch and left the door open, thinking that some animals might take refuge there, but there were no takers. And we fed everyone – seeds for the birds, dog kibble for foxes, possums, skunks and raccoons, and corn for the deer.
We humans had plenty of food, we had enough water, and – with a roaring fire – we were warm. Some musician friends had come to stay with us – their tiny, uninsulated house had no electricity and no running water and they had spent the first night of the storm in their car trying to not to freeze to death – and they sat in the living room and played their guitars in front of the fire. Dan and I kept things ticking over and marveled at the beauty of it all. A snow-covered backyard, a fire burning in the fireplace, and our own private concert echoing through the house.
For the state, the storms were a disaster, and a warning of what can happen when you have a completely deregulated energy sector, and a completely isolated electricity grid that can’t bring in power from elsewhere when things go wrong. For Dan and me, though, the 4 days we spent schlepping snow-melt and firewood were made magical by our friends’ guitar playing and the beauty of the snow.
#texasbackyardwildlife