On Feb. 10, 2021, there was a statewide power outage in Texas due to multiple snowstorms. These snowstorms left Texans without running water, heat, or electricity. For at least a whole week. The snowstorm wasn’t the only thing that Texans had to deal with; the mayor of Texas Tim Boyd had resigned. Leaving Texans to fend for themselves. Roads were also icy due to snowfall meaning they were unsafe to drive on. People also had to go to hotels just to stay warm. Also, residents had to keep pipes from bursting by keeping their water on.

Texans were devastated about what the former mayor Tim Boyd had to say when resigning from office “Only the strong will survive and the weak will perish” says Tim Boyd “I was only making the statement that those folks that are too lazy to get up and fend for themselves but are capable should not be dealt a handout.” During a time like this, you would think you can depend on your mayor. 

Millions of Texans went without power, electricity, and water for days leaving many families to take shelter in places outside their home. “At one hospital, workers stood outside to collect rainwater,” says Apnews. “A mother of three took her children to shelter in a furniture store after she could see her breath forming in the family’s trailer.” Some cities like Austin had to issue a Boil water notice in order to have sanitized water.” This was not possible for some people since they didn’t have gas to boil their water. Some people even had to go to parks to get water from fountains.

Katherine Hayhoe is an atmospheric scientist and professor of political science at Texas Tech University, where she is director of the Climate Science Center. An interview with Hayhoe tells us what kinds of impacts the storm has had on the environment, people, and society. She states “But I hope that the biggest impact that the drought has had is to show us that we are vulnerable to variability and to changes in climate because we depend on water. We need water. We need it for our homes, we need it for our agriculture, we need it for our natural resources, our plants, and our animals and our fish that live in it.” She continues to say  “So I hope what we’ve learned from the drought is that we all need to conserve our resources in a sensible, sustainable way to make sure that we all have enough to continue to increase our quality of life here in West Texas.” 

The most devastating part about the snowstorm is the aftermath. Dale Murden’s citrus orchards in Harlingen were damaged by the freeze. Murden lost over 300 million dollars in crops. “ The last time the Valley saw a freeze of this kind in 1989 the cold wiped out a “staggering” number of crops and “diminished” the farmers in the industry,” Murden said. Fifty-seven people died from this tragic event including a woman and a girl who died of carbon-monoxide poisoning after trying to use their car to generate heat, says Insider. 

Texans have been through a lot with this snowstorm, power outage, no gas, water, or heat. But they are pushing to do what they can. It would be of great help if you were able to donate to local shelters, food shelters, and pet shelters. A good website to donate to would be https://www.houstonfoodbank.org or https://donate.adrn.org/give/236338/#!/donation/checkout.