Texas's power disaster is a warning sign for the US
America's power grid is not ready.
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In February, extreme cold and an unusual winter storm left millions of Texans in the dark. Many went without power or water, in subzero temperatures, for nearly five days. It was a disaster; dozens died. But even though that storm hit much of the country, the power outages were mostly limited to Texas. That’s because Texas is on its own electrical grid, separate from the rest of the country, which means it can’t easily get power from other states in an emergency.
But Texas's grid itself is not what failed. Power went out across Texas in the first place because energy sources across the state were unprepared for severe weather. And that didn’t have to happen; Texas had been warned about this exact scenario, and had actually experienced versions of it twice in the last 30 years. But they didn’t prepare.
Now the rest of the US faces the same issue. Climate change is making severe weather disasters more and more frequent. And the American energy system is not ready for it.
Read more about what happened in Texas and about the US electrical grid: www.vox.com/22289517/texas-st...
And check out more coverage of the Texas power crisis from the Texas Tribune: www.texastribune.org/2021/02/...
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One proposal for fixing the US grid: weave the divided power systems into a single national power grid. One study suggests it could save consumers as much as $47.2 billion a year through increased efficiency and cheaper renewable energy. Read more on Vox: bit.ly/30duu7d
Wow 19 seconds
when you said "some" wind turbines went out, you should say "most." and the cost of the disasters correlates with the increase in population and buildings in the area where they are. climate change is about mitigation, not prevention.
@@TBKJDM 100 years? They showed examples of the exact same dip in temperature, and evidence that wheather anomalies are becoming increasingly common
Single national powergrid? Idk but that doesn't sound like a good idea. What if instead each state is tasked with being self sufficient? And like it is now they give eachother power. That way if Texas goes out Arizona and Oklahoma and neighboring states could help. Same applies to all other states. Nevada goes out California and Utah help. But Single power grid? We could easily get pushed around with that concept. Thanks for the story Vox, keep it up 🤙
Vox you're my favorite info channel!
Always money for war but never for infrastructure...
Biden will make sure to triple that he already send millions to his chinese friends and is preparing soldiers to go back overseas what a sweet man
@@reni9870 big brain moves for the American people, putting us back into unnecessary wars
Good thing Biden is back to drone striking middle eastern countries again.
hardtar9et vids more 911 incidents in the future
_"This is America"_
The United States needs a whole lot more than just an revamped electrical grid. Our infrastructure is falling apart all over the place. Dams, levees, ports, bridges, roads, schools, etc...
Let’s see how many subscribers I can get from this comment currently at 458
@@lonelyburger2995 yeah no.
not all dams leaves ports bridges roads schools we are still ranked the 13th Best Country for Infrastructure
@@lonelyburger2995 yeah no.
@@lonelyburger2995 yeah no
_“Corona doesn't break the system; Corona exposed a broken system.”_ likewise... _“The snowstorm doesn't break the system; the snowstorm exposed a broken system.”_
@Razian Amira, Facts right there.
viet nam knew what to do and did it. we have emotion over common sense working against us. add in greed . note over 600,000 dead and counting .while the rich owned 93% of all wealth. dont get me wrong im in favor of people being able to get rich. im against what it dose too a few of them.
But it is not the same, it is already hard to train medical professionals and training one takes about 18 years minimum. It's not like they are alluminium pipes you can put underground.
That's so true.
How can you write with different fonts
Literally every electrical engineer i know that works in power sector, "we are a break fix company, we rarely do preventative maintenance, cuz... profits"
Yup. And this is what happens when you only care about profits and are deadset against regulation. Corners are cut and when disaster strikes you're caught flatfooted.
Why fix something that prevents future issues when you can also charge to fix those issues in the future basically
Well in germany everything has it's own regulation..
It`s like why spend a 20$/€ a year to change your cars engine oil when you can fix the engine for 10k after 10 years.
You can't expect to much from electrical engineers. Electronics engineers? A completely different story!
I live in texas. Our nieghbor had 8 breaks in their pipes, and had to come over to take baths. another neighbor had to come over for 2 weeks. Thank god we had a generator.
You let neighbors bathe in your house? Wow. Must be close neighbors. In my neighborhood, people didn't come out of their houses.
@@DIVISIONINCISION I had at least five friends that let their neighbors take baths and even one of them let their neighbor stay with them during this crisis. In Texas, most people try to help each other out and say at least hi to each other.
Now time to buy solor panel generator and gas stove bbq grill gas make a list off all need to survive few weeks of emergency
@@DIVISIONINCISION that's how we help texans I had a generator and give power to my neighbor
@@DIVISIONINCISION I know right, maybe because I live in a more private neighborhood but I’ll just say hi when I go out
Do parts of this country just have an allergic response to preparing for problems? They seem to have no problems doing that when it involves imaginary gun battles.
Gotta love America! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
It’s arrogance. Texas was arrogant and wanted to prove their superiority. They wanted to prove they are better then the rest. It obviously didn’t go to well.
It's about money, the private company's simply don't want to spend the money to make their systems better, because it cuts in to profits. Profits is what it's about. And if the Government made upgrades mandatory, expect prices the sky rocket, they would just pass the cost to ensure profit stats the same. So do we want to pay on the bill or pay in taxes...? We pay either way not the companies.
As a texan no we are not prepared for this weather we are texans we are more worried about the heat of the summer
For real! Hahaha, more budget for wars and militaries and none with basic necessities
Texan resident here. What really made the snowstorm deadly for us was: 1) Our houses are made to release as much heat as possible 2) Salt trucks are not readily available in most major cities 3) Our pipelines are not deep enough underground to be insulated by soil 4) Our power grid is for some reason unable to handle ANY extreme weather Combine all that with our people's general lack of knowledge dealing with the cold and our governor taking off to the tropics for some reason and you get the horrible crisis you saw play out before you
It was our senator that left, the governor actually stayed here and helped. Not that it’s a senator’s job to help out in this kind of scenario anyway
Senior Senator not Governor
also forgot to mention that our grid aint have anyone to force it meet regulations like the us
We also have 16,000 wind turbines but without adequate transmission lines we cannot bring it to bear on the metros.
4 is a design flaw, it's to increase the scarcity of electricity
I remember Greg Abbot blaming renewable energy which made up ten percent of their power grid. They've had bad winters before like this. Ten years ago this happened, did they weatherize the grid? NOPE! Costing those who had some electricity tens of thousands of dollars.
Texas power outage because greedy want money because according to conservatives government regulation is socialism. Yet they question why richer left doesnt have power outage
More blaming, less action. That is the American way
Abbot’s number one concern is getting rid of all the Mexicans. He could care less about Texans having reliable access to electricity.
It’s way more than 10% John. Renewables in Texas as of 2022 is almost 40% … stop speaking out of your ahh
@John Harvell
The US sometimes seem like a third world country with a gucci belt
"sometimes?"
🤣
third world country guy here, havent had a single powercut even in the most intense rains and flooding in the last 10 years, and flooding happens every year
It doesn't seem sometimes,it is a third world country with a gucci belt :)
Can you shut up
Most US infrastructure was designed for a climate that no longer exists
This statement is so impactful
What are you talking about?
and they're the ones to blame
if you think US is outdated, think about undeveloped or african countries,
@@vasudevmaheshwari1210 undeveloped is different definition wise from outdated.
Vox: Dangerously low... Everybody in Canada, Nordic countries and Russia: Normal day.
Texas people are weak (it’s a joke people don’t overreact)
I think she meant dangerously low because their infrastructure can’t handle it
Looks like climate change is going the other way
That doesn't mean it isn't dangerously low. -18C is still a temperature you have to prepare for to avoid hypothermia and other conditions, and most Texans simply haven't ever had to.
@@williamcotton9040 It's not "dangerous" though. That temperature is risky, yes, but there's hardly any fatalities. Just buy a proper jacket, boots, clothing, hats and mitts, and you're golden, if you're in an area where -15 and over is normal that is. Texas on the other hand is a different story.
I'm a Texan. Was here in 1989 don't remember anyone we knew losing power like this. After surviving this I just want to know what's going to be done about it. Some died, some barely made it. Some are elderly or sick. Some of us can't afford another storm like this. They want to raise the electricity bills on people already stretched. Some of these people can't afford a decent generator. By the grace of God did my family only lose electricity. If we had lost water or had a pipe burst ....I don't even want to know. If you made it without both much love and respect to you. I pray I never forget this but I want to do something about it.
@Darryl Davis what? You truly believe that?
@Darryl Davis lol, you are deluded.
@@usarkarzts4207 Do you remember what that guy said i'm curious
Switch to solar, 0 money out of pocket a lower and fixed bill instead of fluctuations and you own it after 25 years, meaning after those years you never pay a utility bill again!
If you really want to do something, STOP VOTING REPUBLICAN...Democrats might not be the best but they are not as bad as CONservatives...
One of the biggest issues U.S face is lobbying. Private companies interfering in government policies by lobbying is only going to harm national interests. Lobbying must end. This is coming from someone who isn't even an American.
amen from someone who is American
Lobbying has another name: bribery
From where I am in Pakistan, our government officials proudly call it "Commission" meaning they did someone a service and for doing that service they will take millions from a project.
Maybe you should take a look on what has happened to countries that have done that. I live in one of those countries (Venezuela), I don't recommend anyone to support that kind of stupidity. Let specialized companies do what they know how to do... Governments are not prepared to manage that. There are too many things involved when a government takes over a private company. That's how socialism works, for example, and everyone has seen the error that results from that type of governments
@@Soyjorgedavid What? That's not what lobbying is.
"Oh, come on. That'll never happen." Pompeii resident
as a historian I approve this message.
The people of Pompeii, in their defense, couldn't stop Vesuvius from choking them in pyroclastic ash any more than nearby Herculaneum could stop the lava. Texas at least _COULD_ have made their power grid resilient to the freak weather storm. They chose not to.
"Oh, come on. That'll never happen." Jerusalem literally collapsing 5 times
@@plusxz821 British soldiers hundreds of years ago: "Oh that'll never happen." American Revolution: Edit: Fixed the mispelled word
The United States infrastructure is crumbling, looks like we need more military spending.
Or someone else to blame and start a war...oh wait...they ran out of countries to wage wars against.
Maybe we can just ignore everything and blame the government when it happens again
I hesitate to say this, but I think the only thing that will even have a chance at fixing anything is either an organized revolt or a mass exodus + global trade embargo. History has shown that the best way to keep a leader in check is to periodically remind them that the people below them can and will rebel against a bad system. Sadly, these days people can’t even organize their way out of a wet paper bag, so a “do-you-hear-the-people-sing”-style revolution might not be possible.
PRO TIP for future blizzards and freezes: Before the cold hits, shut off your home's water system. Map out your house's water pipelines and make sure you leave at least one or two water faucets trickling. When the freeze rolls over, slowly open your water main and pay attention to your walls and ceilings where the water pipes run. If you notice any leaks or dark spots appearing on your walls, shot off your water and fix it.
Good tips and always prudent steps but folks seem to be waiting for someone else to take those precautions.
Fix it how? Fixing something inside of a wall would require knowledge and tools most don’t have. Cheap house are built cheaply, if they used quality materials to insulate less pipes would have burst. Might as well rebuild them to not have to fix it every year
Pro tip winterize your home
pro tip, move out of texas. move to north dakota intead, i hear its fun up there 😁
@@marmar6276 You may not be able to do it yourself, but being able to tell the plumber where the leak is speeds up the repair process.
Watch in 10 years. We are going to be talking about the same thing.
Totally agree, no ones learning from history.
It was -23 in Central Texas in 1933 and 1898. We experienced a bad storm no doubt but its happened before in past centuries
@@imout671 OF course it will happen again and even more so in Central TX and the pnadhandle (according to the video, the panhandle is connected to other networks.
I bet ya it will happen again next year, these climate events will become more and more frequent.
@@nyx0103 no it cycles. It will probably be 30 to 80 years before it happens again. There is a history you can look up and compare it too
US: *faces a power crisis and calamities* Developing countries: "first time?"
Bruh i had 3 blackouts today like
Philippines : first time?
@@theonewnocensor , but at least developing countries are adapted and prepared for situations like blackouts, while the US was not.
@@nuzayerov Yeah of the government isn't corrupt, which is an inourmous issue in developing cpuntries
Comparing the US to developing countries is just another way of saying capitalism is failing America.
A “voluntary standard”. Oxymoron
Like a smart Republican.
@@smashingthreeplates2171 More like rational American, even rarer!
Oh so this is why it’s called the lone star state 🤯
nope
Hahahahahahhahahahah yep 1 star state!!!!!!! Are Texas government is so corrupt!!!!!!!!!
actually the lone star is their rating...
If Texas seceded they wouldn't survive one winter on their own.
Canadians living down there prolly thinking “what’s the problem just a little snow”
How many winter jackets you figure are even on sale in Texas lol probably like 10,000 for millions of people
Bold of you to think the Canadians can bear the heat that Texans are built for ((Just how Texans cant stand the cold Canadians are built for)) Edit: @ all the canadians that r like “no dude you dont get it we’ve been through 40 Celsius” first of all im american i think its funny that you think im gonna take the time to calculate what that is in farenheit (for legal reasons this is a joke) second of all dont care you’re ruining my proverb (for legal reasons this is also a joke)
How are you all joking about this when people and animals are actually dying to this
@@shimmienshake humour is a natural way of dealing with stress or emergency situations. I laugh at almost any bad situation instead of getting real anxious.
@@shimmienshake How do you even make it through the day knowing things happen all over the world. Ridiculous.
he’s got a photo of power lines in his house that man is dedicated to the grid
No lie though, utility maps are pretty sick.
Government to Energy Companies: We instituted some regulations so power won’t be lost in future. Y’all wanna take a look? Energy Companies: Nah, not getting more money.
What the government response should be: You have six months to start these renovations, and 5 years after starting to complete, failure to do so will see your assets seized, and your execs tossed on the streets with nothing but a 3 bed/2 bath home in the slums to your name
"It costs too much to fix." Remember back in more indegenous times when people survived in groups and helped one another. When humans were treating each other like humans.
Indegenous is not a word.
Indigenous is but it describes something natural to a location like indigenous people. Indigenous times makes no sense.
Ingenious *
@@markfox1545 they meant ingenious
If you think the indigenous people all lived in harmony then you are delusional
I live in Texas, and my dad sold our generator we bought since Harvey two months before the storm hit. We had no water and no electricity for three days and all the hotels in a three hour radius were packed full of people who didn’t have a viable shelter to stay in. Our roof also started leaking, causing a flood in our bathroom. Let’s just say that it wasn’t a pleasant time.
Why did he do that he knew what Harvey was like why risk your families well being and safety.
I hope it doesn't happen again but remember how yall laughed at us last summer when California was on fire
Selling your generator in Texas is like selling your seatbelts in your car...
@@karabinas Made me chuckle. Thanks.
Just build house like here in Europe
it's like churchil said: "the US always does the right thing, after it's tried everything else"
He was in a position to know. His mother was born and bred in Brooklyn.
or the US does the thing and the rest of the world follows
@@mariacheebandidos7183 like what?
@@tankjr84 every technological advancement since the early 1900s
@@tankjr84 you live under a rock or what
Texans made their choice in voting for their politicians. If they don't want to keep having these problems, VOTE THE REPUBLICANS OUT.
Texans had exactly what they voted for: - No federal regs on preparation for extremes in climate, which means - Minimum standards for equipment, and - Charging based on utilization, with higher rates for overuse (a nod to conservation). - Add to that minimum housing codes which don't require much insulation ( why insulate against extreme heat or cold), and there you are. Texans living the dream and didn't even know it.
And they want us Californians to move there...LOL.
Don't forget right to own and hold a gun. Ban abortion
@@iguanapete3809 since when did Texans want Californians to move to Texas? What kinda universe do you live in? Now put out that fire in your backyard son.
It was so much fun laughing at this texas mess when it was happening. I can't wait to see the next one! I'll be cackling away in my nice warm house in Michigan.
Texas: *Loses power* The government: “Oh no. Anyway....”
lol fr now they charging us extra
Profile pic checks out I guess
@Cole S so the people need to suffer because if the actions of their leaders? Brilliant logic, hope you keep that same energy if a crisis hits your area and affects you or your family.
@@derekabshire6691 their leaders obviously took into account the mentality of texans when they opted out. now texans are just facing the consequences of their self regulation. didnt want to be regulated? then figure it out on your own.
@@adeelshahid2001 omg you're right! Why didn't I think of that!? Guess I'll just get into politics and go change all that by myself. What would I ever have done without your genius advice!?
Yes: the polar vortex in the north pole is more likely to release cold air to the south in the future due to stability ruptures caused by climate change. The Arctic climate is changing: faster and to a larger extent than the ROW. And with it, its very delicate ecosystem. We made a whole series about this and, tbh, it can be seen everywhere.
Is this all reversible or are we past the point of no return?
@@Fantastic_Stranger Well, we have a few more years to change things, but if we don’t....
You know in singapore its like soooo hot and because of covid singapores climate drastically changed like during the hottest months it always rained and getting alot of cold bights as well but before covid none of this happened
@@Fantastic_Stranger we got like 5 or 9 years
Would be nice if only the US was in need of insfrastructure. The entire Latin America (From argentina to Mexico) is broken as well.
I live in San Antonio but I’m originally from Washington DC. I remember getting 27” of snow from one single storm on December 20, 2009 back in DC. It was the worst winter storm I had ever experienced. After all, the largest amount of snow I had seen before that was about 8”, because that’s all climatology would support during the winter months for my region. I’ve lived in Texas for nine years now and even though we received two snow storms within five days, totaling about 11” of snow, this was by far the worst week of my life and the worst winter storm I have ever experienced, greatly surpassing the storm in 2009. One might have a hard time understanding because surely 27 inches is a lot more than two 6” snowstorms. But it was the fact that I witnessed my city and basically my whole state crumble around me. the way people were reacting, how we were so unprepared, how cold it got, the lengths we had to go to to survive, etc. this was CRIPPLING.
Californians: This is too expensive, let's move to Texas... "Honey, did you bring the electricity?"
Unfortunately, there is no electricity or water to spare in California, either.
Californians seem wholly incapable of long-term planning. They voted Cali into a shitwhole, moved and learned NOTHING.
Electrical companies in the Texas Panhandle and in New Mexico are on a grid that sends the electricity they make to other States including California.
And this summer Cali has another heat wave with rolling blackouts and no AC.....meanwhile just another lovely Texas summer. However with all the homeless and unemployed in Cali they might not have to this year since half the houses are for sale
No, didnt bring the electricity....there was a blackout
I remember some guy about 12 years ago suggesting we should upgrade our grid. Production, movement, storage, and more of our electricity in the US. He even suggested we invest in multiple sectors of diversification of the entire industry. Now that he was proven right, are we still playing the politics game or is it time to do something about it?
From what I can tell from Ted Cruz's actions, it's still playing the blame game on windmills even if most are not installed yet.
Tee cruz knows what he's doing, he's not bending to the elites, that's a smart move
@@danarsarkawt2694 ???
@@EmeraldMara85 windmills are part of the problem, too. Not all of it though, but they play a part.
Completely agree, we must invest in nuclear energy and stop playing politics.
U.S. is the CEO of "oh yeah that wasn't meant to be permanent" infrastructure and government wise.
ha ha Well, it seems like they say that every time something happens. Sewers made to last 60 years and they are 120 years old or whatever.
And when was it you designed something that will last forever? Hmmmm
@@robertspivey46 your entire generation is paving the collapse for America, seethe more.
Apparently Japan actually has a similar problem. They have two power grids as well, because of choices made in the late 1800s. That being said, it is outrageous that the US has two grids when different countries in other continents manage to share grids.
@@robertspivey46 You dont have to design something to last forever. But you need to provide it with needed maitanance and when its lifespan has come to an end replace it. To be fair its not problem only in the USA.
I’m Texan and there wasn’t a “Failure to anticipate” they were told that the needed to make changes and they decided not to. But want to know something. Very few Texans have winter gear.for as much blame that the Texas government gets, us ourselves put in the same effort. My brother in law was sitting pretty when the power went out because ha had a massive generator with plenty of gas so for him it was business as usual.
When you live in a subtropical zone and people tell you that you should prepare for winter?? Saying people in Texas should be prepared for winter and make infrastructure that could deal with it is like saying Saudi Arabia needs to prepare for winter.
@@jh29a I think its ridiculous to be wanting Texas to change their infrastructure so they can take any kind of climate. It's expensive and kind of a waste of the ressources we have in this planet.
@@jh29a What's next they want to build floodbanks on the northern coast of Alaska? What's next they want to store giant storages of sunscreen in Alaska because they might get to see the sun? No wonder Americans are famous for their poor geography. They don't even understand that Texas is in a subtropical zone. It is legit one of the warmest places of this entire planet... and they want them to spend twice as much on their electricity because of safety?
Yep and if it weren't for the natural gas and gasoline, we would have froze here in Austin.
@@sebastianwallin3726 Nonsense. Nothing more is needed than a little more investment (= money) to winterize power plants and the power grid. The reason why this has not been done is simply that the companies have maximized profits and the local government does not require winterizing.
I live in Texas, I remember this time, it was terrifying. Just thankful that my house didn't lose power and that we had food cuz an apocalypse was probably gonna happen.
I live in Austin and I can say it wasn’t too bad
“Anything that happens twice is surely to happen a third.”
WW3????
@@razvanalexandrubugi2372 👀
@@razvanalexandrubugi2372 I mean eventually it’ll happen
But as long as the politicians are well fed, snug and warm.....they won't CARE.
@@nicolapettorosso221 politicians are always well fed snug and warm. Its the people who need to be well fed so they don't agree to go to war. Politicians use the poor and deprived classes to legitimise the cause for wars
It's strange how everyone opposed to "Big Government" has no problem electing Bad Government.
It is not that irrational. I mean, Bad Small Government has less potential to do harm than Bad Big Government. With that said, the Good Small Government could still enforce some minimal winterization requirements, so that at least the fossil fuel power could operate normally.
@Meta Human last good president was JFK, mfk the rest.
For real bro.
Not everyone is against bug government and they make up the majority of voters
@@upclosenpersonal100 what about Obama
I work for a company that has sites in Tennessee and Texas. When the cold hit, our entire Texas site shut down because it wasn't ready for the below freezing temps. At the same time, our Tennessee site kept on rocking in 5 degree weather. Gotta be prepared for anything
We’re supposed to get snow tonight. Wish us luck.
@@jxijxine Power went out for me for 5 minutes, at least it wasn't for an entire day
@@Kallixede In arlington, power went for like 45 minutes.
I can only imagine how it must've felt like being a homeless person or a stray animal in those conditions. Prayers to every soul that didn't make it.
A LOT of strays died😔, I saw 3 frozen cats, and like 5 frozen dogs when I went out
@@Hieroph4nt NO!! Not the strays! Oh and homeless people too or something
@@Hieroph4nt did u eat the frozen strays, free food if u think about it
@@jimpa7011 is this why you don't have friends?
Why not do something useful instead of "prayers"?
This is like when a country invades Russia in the winter, but instead of getting destroy by winter while invading, the winter comes and destroy your power grid
yes exactly like that, but texas didn't even invade and got wrecked nonetheless xD
@@adityamathur6938 Texas usually has desert temperatures, This time it was colder there than in Alaska...
In Soviet Russia you come to the winter to get destroyed
In capitalist america, winter invades YOU! (Yes, this is a soviet russia joke parody).
Are you secretly bashing on the Germans 😏
As a Canadian hearing about -15c sounds like a great day for skiing
I'm from the Alps, and went "Ooooh, nice and crisp !" We don't get those temps in the valleys, but they're semi-usual once you get up into the mountains !
That feeling when they were talking about the power facilities that are in immediate danger of flooding and you can see like 20 dots directly on top of where you live.
You are in danger, probably.
As someone who resides in Texas (Houston)..this was DEVASTATING. I only was without power for 2 days, but more of my friends lost it for the week. Many lost water and EVERY store was closed. This means, no water, no lights, no heat, no wifi, no warm food. Felt apocalyptic. And our cowardly senator chose to go on vacation 🤦🏿♂️ Many are still living in hotels after pipes burst destroying their homes
And I lost power for 3 days
The saddest part is that the senator you're talking about will be re-elected !!!
I also live in Houston. 3 days. We're out of here as soon as the pandemic allows good jobs to bounce back.
@@David-iv6je Then you're gonna be in Houston a LONG time. . . .
@@adrianjohnson7920 Already happening
Puerto Rico’s electric grid was crushed by one of many hurricanes passing through. Years of warnings from engineers and other professionals fell on death (dead) not deaf ears.
deaf*
They probably couldn’t afford it anyways. 🤷🏽♀️
I get what you’re saying because they’re all dead now right?
But that is just a moment of the individual named above and beyond what you are doing No pun intended
@@MrTangent Just what you read death like they don't live anymore.
Coming from someone caught in the Winter storms in Texas absolutely amazing video. Wouldn’t wish that time on anyone. Change is a necessity.
we were without power for 3 days. but our community is amazing, we all helped each other get through it.
I'm in Texas and many people, even in Texas, are unaware that the grid was minutes away from a long term grid down situation. No mater where you are the power grid is not 100% reliable and you should prepare for potential power outages.
Yes. I agree. It was so unexpected and we can't blame everything on the state government.
People keep saying they should have been prepared, but it’s freaking Texas. They don’t usually ever get that kind of weather. A quote from a great movie: 'The world will never know what could happen. And even if they did, they wouldn't care. Because no one cares about the bomb that didn't go off. Only the one that did.'
@@andrewrichardson3135 True. I could not have anticipated a Winter Storm in Texas, but a Power Outage / Grid Down Situation is something I can see happening again. That's something I don't want to get caught off guard by again. Once the power it out it's too late to stock up on what you will need.. batteries, flashlights, shelf stable food, etc.
@@vottoduder Do you realize just how much power that wastes though? Every time they have to re-energize the electrically "cold" circuits in your home it eats up power for no useful purpose and your power bill gets spiked as a result AND it's damaging to electronic equipment in your home as well! It's a lot more than just annoying! And with your 20 minutes worth of power what did you do? Crank up the heat as high as possible so as to be ready for the next upcoming 10 minute blackout! That is NOT a useful strategy, it's extremely wasteful and damaging in fact! :-(
@@andrewrichardson3135 fax
This has to be one of the biggest "I told you so", in American history.
But most texans will just say nah
california had The same problem no power in the heat waves also, and btw more houses burned down every year. not like this once in 30 years.
@@Jfscloud723 but I don't think it was that majority of California that lost its power like Texas
@@Jfscloud723 if ur a texan i can see it clearly. pushing the topic on the californians so u can laugh at them this time, not today lol
@@Jfscloud723 that is not an argument. This is about Texas. Can’t point the finger here bud.
I talked to a guy from texas. All he could do was blame renewed energy and " well it gets cold here every 10 years" lol
My last snow day before this year was 4 years ago
You should tell him "ERCOT already took the reduction from wind and solar into account, so that's not what failed, ya dingus."
It's a lot more than just the power grid. The USA has a problem with all infrastructure aging out. Dams are deteriorating, roads are in poor shape, and most commonly perhaps, bridges are falling apart. Maybe if we spent that $1.9T on construction, we could provide real jobs and fix much of that problem. It doesn't matter who is in office, left and right have both ignored the condition of the USA's infrastructure and it's going to bite America very hard in the near future.
When everything is going good: Let's de-regulate! When things go bad: Why are there no regulations!?
correlation not causation
@@cadespaulding3837 Exactly! Nothing would have changed if we made it mandatory to winter proof your power plant anyways.
@@Medicus_Asur lets drought proof the amazon rain forest.
There are regulations. Problem is corruption and mismanagement much like in every other state.
@@StarWolfKing it wasn’t even the state. Ercot requested extra power from the national government and Biden himself denied it
We will meet here again in 10 years from now for the same problem occurring.
this won't age well neither will this 😳😳
Or whatever the Internet is by then lol
10 years...lol this will be the norm ....emp coming to a theater near YOU
Notice me Future People UwU
Not 10, wait just 5 years.
The lone wolf dies and only the pack survives.
the lone star dies and the rest survives. I wonder who the lone star is oh its texas
until it all dies and it's every man for emself
While 8 inches of snow is a mild day up north, here in Austin, it was our 3rd biggest snowfall ever and we don't get snow too frequently here.
U.S. Motto: “It’s always been this way”
at least they're not from oklahoma
Yea the us has always existed
That’s Texas I’m from Michigan and we’ve had worse snow than the snow Texas got and the power NEVER went out
I thought the us motto is "In God we trust"
"checking your blind spots" is tough when you're made of 95 % blind spots.
That blind spot show how inept politics are in their ability to create such said regulations to say, oh, this needs to be winterized, which doesn't happen and what does happen is the conspiracy that the power companies are taking bribes from said politicians instead of using that money to help said problem.
C'mon man!!!It's ONLY 94% blind spots lol....
Which makes us Blind rather than spot ....nownwhen the cars will also be empowered by Grid ...
Shouldn't it be really easy then? 95% Success rate.
5:19 time stamp
Texas: Has massive power outages during a harsh winter. Generac Holdings: Would like to invite you to check out their line of power generators.
I noticed that the price of generators has doubled or tripled since freeze.
**Millions of Texans freezing and without power** Ted Cruz: Oop sorry gottta go, byeeeeeee **goes to Cancun for a vacation** Ted Cruz when he returns: “My daughters made me leave” BRUH
I was one of the lucky people in texas to never lose power, everyone else around where I live lost power though
I saw some people have there pipes burst and others lose power for five days and have no water at all
lol it's ur first time getting degrees this low? im norweigan and its normal for me and i can take a ice bath naked and it'll feel normal
@@javen2125 Actually, for them, yes it is. It's the first time in recorded history that Texas has EVER had a state wide cold weather emergency. People should really be more concerned about this, because it's caused by climate change and is going to become more common year after year.
Same I’m still surprised mine stayed on
Our power was out for 2 nights, we got it back on Day 3, only to have our water shut off until Day 11 :/
Way way back in the 20th century they called it, infratructure. Politicians discovered it was an unknown source of personal wealth, and now it's history.
That story is still going on in the Third World today.
Thanks for making this video cuz a lot of us down here in Texas who aren't experts in the energy industry are scratching our heads.
Texas: "Go big or go home". Texas: "We went big... at home."
Whenever I hear "This really is a wake up call to do X", I picture politicians just tapping the snooze button right after.
Thats America. If only our government listened. Really we don't have to do anything. They're the ones who have the ability to respond and force these companies to winterize
@@jaronheirofsunlight They do listen... to donors who give them millions to ignore everyone else.
@@jaronheirofsunlight Vote for different people and things may change.
Texas: *absolute Chaos* Canada: That's just Tuesday
It's was like -43 here in Winnipeg a few weeks ago 😂
All that chaos came from a little cold 😭
@@mr.f2p552 I’m in Alberta and it was like -45 not long ago 😓
Canadians expects freezing temperature. They are better informed.
@@gawdlysiinz5134 man we’re used to 90-100 degree heat, we never had a winter that went lower 40 degrees
"Look at this graph of billion dollar disasters, they go up over time!" Almost like GDP and inflation.
More like the human population of the planet.... I'd bet there is a direct correlation in fact! Just like bigger isn't always better, MORE isn't always better either!
Good I hope climate change wipes out mankind
Maybe they didn’t adjust for inflation when they made the graph.
@@michaelweston409 That would include you, wouldn't it? I think that may be going a bit.... overboard! But truthfully, this planet cannot reasonably support over 7 billion human beings no matter how much we conserve if we don't start reducing our population in some reasonable way the planet is going to end up doing it for us in a much more painful brutal manner I fear! That's all I'm saying, we are sinking our own ship with our staggering population numbers and taking everything else down with us on this planet. The planet will keep spinning, but it may do so without us at the rate we are going! :-\
@@michaelweston409 Marvel's "Thanos" character was not wrong, his conclusions were spot-on in fact.... it was only his methods that made him the villain IMHO. :-\
This country really needs a revamp on a whole lot of things. Also and somehow they want us to go full electric I don't get it
Solar Panels and giant battery’s. Tesla already has them.
@@Kingofthenorf420If people in Texas had that stuff during the storm would they still have electricity?
@@marcovillela7438 yes, a few people did have it during the storm and they had power. Just KZhead it.
@@Kingofthenorf420 Well thats reliable
@@marcovillela7438 yeah, only issue is that it’s relatively expensive. I’d say in the next 3-5 years cost should be dropping dramatically.
“Hey you think we should secure these pipes, roads, communication, power lines, and houses from a inch of snow” “Nah”
Funny how my channel predicted this a while back, but it’s not getting any credit. Shame on those for censoring my channel. They have played a role in not allowing the truth to spread. Reparation must be paid to the Africans in order to end the pandemic and to stop the dramatic climate change
Texas didn't winterize because 20 years ago they were assured by experts that the trend of global warming would ensure that extreme winter weather was a thing of the past.
@@smh9902 Um, climate change brings more extremes. Drought + flooding. Cold + heat. The stable air currents "hold" the polar cold in the arctic. The weakened jet stream from climate change lets the cold air "escape". Texas power outages = 1989, 2011, 2021. More frequent. These events aren't new but they will probably become more regular. Long story short - average temperatures can rise but the cold will not disappear "immediately".
@@howard5992 OK, but my point still stands, 20 years ago, "climate change" was called "Global Warming", and the "experts" assured Texas authority's and corporations that winterization wasnt necessary. Remember, in 2001 it was predicted that New York was supposed to be underwater by now. Sea levels have not risen anywhere near what was predicted by their models. Dozens of meters were predicted, instead we only got 87 millimeters.
@@smh9902 Do you have a copy of that memo from 20 years ago ?
Welcome to the USA. Where we treat quite literally everything as a business
Your lives are just numbers on my fiscal sheet 😂
Yeah and guess what, it’s way more efficient. Example US postal service vs Amazon. But then special interest cause a problem because they have their own agendas.
@@Jonah_Gill the US postal service is failing because of the lack of any kind of funding to begin with. How can you compare the two when one doesn’t even receive the necessary government regulations. Policy making is key. And let’s not forget the $0 in federal income taxes for Amazon.
Yes and actually the USA itself is a business and we are all employees.
@@Jonah_Gill Here in Canada, government run health care can provide services to more people at lower cost than the US private system. Sounds like you've been drinking the free market koolaid...
How is this a warning sign? I live in Montana, this is the norm every year.
Montana's meant to get cold, Texas isn't. That's like saying 'wdym it's always like that in Canada' to snow falling in a place like the Sahara desert.
@Jonathan Devereaux I'm in my last year of high school so I fear I may not be as educated as you, but I do understand what you are saying. Regardless of whether or not this change is normal, cleaning up pollution levels would do more good than harm. Large corporations may get upset and/or lose money if they were forced to lower their pollution levels, but the people wouldn't be effected and that's what matters. Currently lowering pollution levels is the only solution we have to what we believe is a climate crisis, which is why it's being pushed so hard in the media. I'm aware that the media can be much too exaggerated at times but that's how they draw attention to problems that need fixed. Let's say after lowering pollution levels we find that the Earth is just doing its thing and not actually in a crisis. We would have still been able to clean up pollution. People and animals who have no acess to clean water will finally have that, those in China could finally breath in clean air on a daily basis, etc. So yes, I suppose this could be a natural change in temperature, but even if it were, the world still needs to clean up its act. Cleaning our environment is good with or without a climate crisis (I very much believe that there is one). It should be our second priority, right after human welfare. Its not wrong to be overly cautious about this for we do not get a second chance, there's no Earth 2. I'm aware I may not completely understand the entirety of this situation but I do know that this is the only solution that we've come up with. I'm going to go do my hw now. I hope your lab went well and I hope you, and anyone else reading this, are/is having a good day.
@@taelor30 The problem with your argument is Montana and Canada both can get temperatures over 30-40 degrees in the summer.
funniest thing said... "The governments can require updating and they can even help pay for it"... Shows just how little people of this country understand about how it is run.
People really think the government is here to help them 😂 governments dont help people. They keep those in power with more power & control the masses from anything different
@@michaelweston409 Both yes and no. It depends who is in your government and what authority it has. In some way government can increase the lives of the poor, you can for an example use more government funding in education and housing for such people. In the USA however this is mostly not the case. Rather you see the wealthy creating a sort of niche a kind of place only reserved for people alike. USA is becoming the kind of socially divided country England was in the 17th and 18'th hundred.
@@sebastianwallin3726 you dont get it either. The govt is not a company. It does not create an income through selling a product or service so how can the govt help anyone? The govt takes by force money made by companies and individuals and after skimming their own profits they decide who to give that money to. This explains why a candidate for a political position will spend millions of dollars for a job that pays very little. Because all that money taken from the citizens becomes theirs to decide what to do with it. Of course only after their own companies are funded nicely. Point is the govt has no ability to help anyone its the taxpayers that have that ability so why have this huge wasteful govt to do what we could do ourselves?
@@bcxaz “Why have this huge wasteful govt to do what we can do ourselves” I understand you may not agree with a certain government I certainly don’t but bro the government is the manifestation of us governing ourselves through democracy. How would you recommend we “do it ourselves”?
@@slothgasm8455 Hey, "Bro" hate to break it to you but we are not a democracy. Until you learn the difference between a Constitutional Republic and a democracy there is not much I can help you with.
I lived through this historic event. Life feels different when you have no water, no electricity , minimal food and water (stores sold out) as well as a small child. you cant leave. All you can do is survive. RIP to the victims. As always, we will remain Texas strong.
Now you understand what it’s like to live in a 3rd world country.
The "Texas Strong"??? Better said as "Texas Arrogant". Your State decided to "go it alone" on this &...you had to "pay", just like you did in 2011 & 1989. Your State needs to-at least-consider getting on another grid, instead of walking around, beating your chests and stating the proverbial "We're Texas Strong". Time to shelve the pride and get...real!
Me to
@@cardtrix1970 they don’t sound too strong to me with all the crying they’re doing.
@@cardtrix1970 ... y'know, there's no better teacher than suffering from your own mistakes. But what do I know, socialism bad, regulation terrible, magical invisible hand solves all, and as a last resort blame law-complying corporations... Change the law, change the behavior...
As a Texan I say we make a petition for these company’s to get responsive and attend the needs of our ‘state’.
Yea, a piece of paper will fix them
@@alanmoffat4680 money is just a bunch of pieces of paper...
Bless your heart
Look at what happened with PG&E in California after they caused a massive wild fire....your government is on the side of the corporations, they aren’t there for you.
@@SprAlx Money is trust (think bitcoin and blockchain, not classic currency), petition is wind (gesticulation).
Survival food; Lentils and rice. I was 60 when I lived off a bike for two years. I had camp stove, tent, guitar, lap top, raincoat, change of clothes, knick knacks. With a bike you can use it as a mule to carry your packs even if you walk it - I rode it down Mt Shasta (two hours coasting!). Have plenty of lighters and the ability to haul a gallon or two of water. You can wheel a bike over rough territory if you're going off road or you can travel on a bike as far as you like with everything you need.
That was a gnarly week for us in south Texas.
“Like in Oklahoma, which was also hit bad during the February storm.” People living in the north-east: “Which one?”
Seriously, our windmills work year long here in Buffalo NY, its a shame the lack of regulation allowed companies to be greedy. I think this was a wake up call for a lot of Texans who boast about how terrible the federal government is.
From Chicago and we got 3 feet of snow over several different storms during this vortex as well.
As an oklahoman, it was the one that stretched passed us n hit texas. We here haven't seen anything like this in years, and it was odd to experience it again.
@@zobius9191 well northeasterners are generally better prepared for cold than Texans.
*laughs in massachusetts*
Fun fact: the word "Warning" is never taken seriously by America 😂
oh but if some foreign power has any inkling of threat whip out the good old military to intervene in anything!
@@Shalami 'Murica!
I’m sure they’re gonna take pre caution now
Keep hating foreigners, America campeaõ del mundo
Just like COVID19
I didn't have power for three days, it was so shocking (but not surprising) to learn how much of Texas is behind just to make money for already wealthy people. I lost all my plants, my beloved dog... It was so depressing. I'm from a place where summers hit triple digits normally, I know
Poor dog.
Texas is dedicated to the the ethos of "everyone for themselves"
that's why they want to leave the Union
oh so everyone so baby sit, police, and thoroughly examine one another 24/7, preventing them from morphing into a functioning, independent, and free adult in the future?
cade spaulding and what’s stopping them from doing it? We should kick them out immediately
@@cypher3604 As a Texan I say yes please.
@@cadespaulding3837 I agree
So NASA can land a rover on a different planet that’s -120° yet Texas gets like 10° and the whole state shuts down. Maybe scientist, not politicians, should run Texas. How does that sound?
Bad
It's not the politicians, but the companies that are allowed to lobby an entire state (or even the entire country) into submission that are the root of the issue.
@@f.p1758 you don’t want smart educated people to run our country?
@@warweasel2832 it’s both
.......
In Portland oregon when that winter storm happened I remember seeing that Texas got it really bad and then a couple days later all the power went out and the power lines were frozen but we still had water. And my family had to use our phones flashlights to have light and we didn't have Electricity, WiFi, or Heat to keep us warm
Vox: "Extreme cold", -16° Kanada, Russia, and Scandinavia: warmer than normally.
Please. Endless wars and Wall Street bailouts are more important than our infrastructure.
Careful now. You don't wanna upset our Wall Street oligarch billionaire controller masters
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I will never understand how the richest and most powerful country in the world can be so broken. Healthcare, infrastructure, education, paid leave - this is stuff that even much poorer countries have figured out years ago. It makes absolutely no sense!
Betul. Correct
Qatar is actually the richest by capita.
They are the only ones saying that.
@@tauceti8060 Qatar has little to no population so
Its easy to do infrastructure when your country has none...
This told me nothing
texas be like: im nothing like y'all 😭😎 😎
The managers of the electric companies have all kinds of emergency equipment installed with their huge salaries. For them.. Not for you, suckers..
Combining a minimum of domestic solar & wind (both connected batteries to store energy) and fuel powered energy (for immediate response) with around 20k$ is pretty achievable. But people consume for leisure, entertainment and comfort (also because societal/cultural doxa strongly suggests that to them) 21st century will teach them :(
Either way they win. They just pass the cost onto consumers in the form of $10K+ bills. Easy no losses.
They kept power on for the elite and more prestine areas but not where we are in South Texas. People froze to death!!
Facts 💯
@@mur4s4m3 you think its worth it for living off grid??
"We should fix society." "Funny you say that, since you live in a society. I am very intelligent."
dying is free, ya know
@@anti.bctards7376 they said america freedom country but not free healthy care and elcetrical bill....
@@nanikore6860 that has nothing do to with freedom
“Socialism is much better than capitalism” “But you see you are talking to me on a phone made by capitalism haha I win 😂😂😂”
@@tranquility6789 i mean look at canada they are democracy but litle bit socialsm because free health care..... full capitalism is not really good at all, its like poor getting poor, rich getting rich .... america more like bunch of company pretending to be country....
I'll never forget how bad the 2021 snowstorm was in Austin.
FYI usually between January and February it's always the coldest months of the year....
Vox's editor really deserves a raise, these videos are so high quality, who else agrees?
Agree, the motion graphics are spectacular!
me daddy😩
100%
@@qzy9100 there was no reason for that
Often Too politicized though
Texas: "You had a great idea, USA, but my power grid is more advanced in every way!" USA: "How'd you solve the icing problem?" Texas: "Icing problem?" USA: "Might want to look into it." *Bonk!*
Hey it's from ironman
Loved that line
Spoiler alert: Texas is gonna fly itself to space XD
you are a genius
They’re working it out faster then our government will agree on what side of space is black
Other states: If something happens to our power we can get it from other places easily Texas: *Inhale*
what a wonderful analogy of the bemusing weakness of individualism
Currently working as a service desk agent in Reliant electricity, and it’s been really stressing...
Wow, that's a really ironic name Hope it eases up for you soon bud, just imagine how much worse it would have been if that months long power drop did happen.
I hope they give you a very well deserved raise
Endless calls you must be facing
man it feelz like most problem in the world starts from small group's "greed"
Democrat party is not a small group
@@theodenednew8874 😭 yes the democrat party is very prevalent in the state of Texas lol. This is all their fault 😂
Money is the root of all evil but the world doesn’t turn without it
@@theodenednew8874 Don’t forget the Republican Party as well.
ehem ehem i smell something in these comments
Back in 2023. Texas is yet again under strain from the weather, this time from overwhelming heat, and guess what! Nothing has changed.
Remembering watching this for the first time and boom now it’s almost an year to this 🤯