Katy and Fulshear schools had recently been shut down due to a power outage, along with the rest of Texas. Because Texas winters do not typically get as cold as northern states, the unusual snowfall and freezing temperatures that had hit the state this month was very detrimental to houses and roads, among other things. 

“Our power was out for 48 hours,” said senior Priest Collier. “We didn’t have water and had to layer clothes and blankets to keep warm.”

Businesses were shut down due to no water or electricity, and because food expired at a certain date some restaurants could not open even after electricity had returned to their area. Without power in people’s houses and pipes not running water, a lot of people were left cold in their houses for the week unless they had found a place to stay. 

“We had no damage but our neighbors did. My family and I played monopoly and moved everything from the fridge to the garage,” said junior Lean Howard.

Some people even had roofs cave in or pipes burst into their house. The lucky few that did have power either owned a generator or lived in the area of a hospital. 

“Our pipes burst so we had to turn off the water for three days,” said Collier. “We ended up using water from our neighbors.”

Several cities did rolling blackouts, where power was distributed to areas for a short amount of time in order to give electricity to everyone and still preserve it. But even with the blackouts, people had to be resourceful with their food and water. 

“For food we mostly used our stove. We had lots of steak and eggs, along with chips and packaged food,” said Howard.

Despite the unfortunate situation, people were able to disconnect for a while and enjoy quality time with family and friends.  The snowfall was exciting since Katy does not typically receive much snow in the winters.

“We walked our dogs in the snow and my brother and I had a snowball fight,” said Howard.

This power outage was very harmful to citizens living in Texas, but it only lasted for about a week until the situation had cleared up. Although the temperatures decreased, there was an increase in love and support for those suffering in this icy weather and for those without a warm place to stay.

“My family was in town so we played games in the living room. The snow and ice was also very cool, I hadn’t seen it since 7th grade,” said Collier.