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Texas secession talk fades amid winter storm, power outages

It wasn’t that way back — just some days and weeks, actually — that some Texas political leaders have been speaking in regards to the virtues of seceding from the USA.

On the finish of January, a state legislator filed a invoice geared toward making a legislative committee by referendum “to develop a plan for achieving Texas independence.”

The measure shortly won the endorsement of state GOP Chairman Allen West, who stated the measure aimed to present Texans “a proper to voice their opinions on a vital challenge.”

It’s possible you’ll not hear a lot of this rhetoric for the time being. That’s as a result of Texas’ want for help from exterior its borders has reached a excessive degree of urgency.

As many as 4 million residents, or about 15% of the state, spent a lot of the final weekend with out electrical energy as a result of the state’s energy grid buckled underneath an onslaught of ice, snow and subfreezing temperatures. The company overseeing the state’s energy grid stated Tuesday that it can’t predict when electrical service will likely be restored to all residents.

On Saturday, Gov. Greg Abbott appealed to President Biden for an emergency federal catastrophe declaration. Biden promptly delivered, releasing federal help to circulation into the state by the billions of {dollars} (and with out first insisting on an expression of non-public fealty to the White Home, not like a former president I may identify).

Let’s get a number of issues straight right here. Because the excessive climate struck late final week, the folks of Texas have suffered by harsh, life-threatening circumstances by no fault of their very own. Federal emergency support and providers exist exactly to answer such a state of affairs wherever within the 50 states it happens.

We must always all be grateful that the federal government continues to be geared up to render succor to Texans to take care of the hazards and vicissitudes of pure disasters, and we should always be a part of collectively in wishing the perfect for Texans — and residents of the various different states the place the outbreak of extreme climate during the last week or so has positioned life and limb in danger.

Nonetheless….

Texas political leaders haven’t been above mocking different states, reminiscent of California, of their instances of want. Right here’s Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) chortling over Gov. Gavin Newsom’s emergency attraction to Californians to preserve power throughout a warmth wave final August:

“California is now unable to carry out even primary capabilities of civilization, like having dependable electrical energy,” Cruz tweeted on Aug. 19. “Biden/Harris/AOC need to make CA’s failed power coverage the usual nationwide. Hope you don’t like air-con!”

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Originally posted by Steve Miller:
Aw hell. First the snow and now this.

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Volunteers are racing to rescue thousands of cold-stunned sea turtles off the coast of Texas as a record-breaking deadly winter storm drops temperatures below zero degrees.

Conservation group Sea Turtle Inc. told CBS News Wednesday morning it has already rescued over 4,000 turtles, reaching capacity at its facility in South Padre Island and sending overflow to the city's convention center. Officials believe the total number is even higher.

Executive Director Wendy Knight told CBS News SpaceX provided the organization early Wednesday morning with a large enough generator to restore power to its main facility and heat water for the turtles, which can't survive in cold water.

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For Tina Rios, her family and hundreds of other people, shelter from the winter storm that has left much of Houston without power or heat came from an unusual place: a furniture store.

Sitting at one of the many tables on display Wednesday inside Gallery Furniture’s cavernous showroom, Rios, 32, explained how she “started stressing really, really hard” after her suburban Houston mobile home lost power at around 4:30 a.m. on Monday and she, her husband, Eric Bennis, and their three children were soon able to see their breath inside. After spending one frigid night there, they realized they needed to find somewhere warm to wait out the blackout, not so much for the parents, who grew up in New Jersey and are used to cold, but for the children, ages 3, 9 and 10.

“They’re Texas babies,” said Bennis, a 31-year-old tow truck driver. “This is the first time they’ve seen white on the ground.”

They heard Gallery Furniture’s owner, Jim McIngvale, had opened his main store in north Houston as a shelter, so they made the hourlong drive from Channelview.

“We came in and they welcomed us with open arms,” said an emotional Rios.

As utility crews raced Wednesday to restore power to nearly 3.4 million customers in Texas and other parts of the U.S. while another blast of ice and snow threatened to cause more chaos in places that aren’t used to such weather, McIngvale, known as “Mattress Mack,” said Houston has been good to his business and his employees and that he was just doing his part to help.

“We all have a responsibility for the well-being of the community and we think this is our responsibility,” said McIngvale, who later walked around the store greeting people and offering them doughnuts and kolaches — Czech pastries that are popular in parts of Texas.

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Sen. Ted Cruz flew to Cancun, Mexico, with his family this week as Texas dealt with a winter storm that as of Thursday still has left 500,000 without power, Fox News has confirmed.

Photographs of Cruz, R-Texas, at an airport began circulating on social media late Wednesday, with people alleging that the senator had left the state for Cancun amid a major crisis. A Republican source told Fox News that the allegations Cruz was traveling to the Mexican city are true.

"The photos speak for themselves," the source said.

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“With school cancelled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends. Wanting to be a good dad, I flew down with them last night and am flying back this afternoon,” Cruz said in a statement that left it ambiguous as to whether he planned to return so soon, or abruptly changed his ticket as the condemnation mounted.

At the Houston airport, he toted an expanded rolling bag that most travelers would consider far too big for one overnight, and too big for overhead stowage, plus a beach bag. Thursday afternoon at the Cancun airport, he had the same expanded rolling bag.

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Power began to flicker back on across much of Texas on Thursday, but millions across the state confronted another dire crisis: a shortage of drinkable water as pipes cracked, wells froze and water treatment plants were knocked offline.

The problems were especially acute at hospitals. One, in Austin, was forced to move some of its most critically ill patients to another building when its faucets ran nearly dry. Another in Houston had to haul in water on trucks to flush toilets.

But for many of the state’s residents stuck at home, the emergency meant boiling the tap water that trickled through their faucets, scouring stores for bottled water or boiling icicles and dirty snow on their stoves.

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ERCOT officials spent 40 seconds on winter storm preparedness at Feb. 9 meeting

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“It is actually going to be winter here pretty soon. As those of you in Texas know, we do have a cold front coming this way. We’ll probably see our winter peak later this week or in the very early part of next week. And Operations has issued an operating condition notice just to make sure everyone is up to speed with their winterization and we’re ready for the several days of pretty frigid temperatures to come our way.

“So more on that in the next couple of days, but it does look like we’ll have a little bit of winter weather to contend with during the course of the rest of this week. We do have a cold front coming this way.”

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Top board leaders of Texas’ embattled power grid operator said Tuesday they will resign following outrage over more than 4 million customers losing electricity last week during a deadly winter storm, including many whose frigid homes lacked heat for days in subfreezing temperatures.

The resignations are the first since the crisis began in Texas, and calls for wider firings remain in the aftermath of one of the worst power outages in U.S. history.

All of the five board directors who are stepping down, including Chairwoman Sally Talberg, live outside of Texas, which only intensified criticism of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. The resignations are effective Wednesday — a day before Texas lawmakers are expected to sharply question grid managers and energy officials about the failures during hearings at the state Capitol.

Another candidate for a director position, who also does not live in Texas, said he was withdrawing his name.

Four of the departing board members acknowledged “concerns about out-of-state board leadership” in a letter to grid members and the state’s Public Utility Commission, which oversees ERCOT. During the crisis, ERCOT officials removed contact information for board members off its website, saying they had become the target of threats.

“Our hearts go out to all Texans who have had to go without electricity, heat, and water during frigid temperatures and continue to face the tragic consequences of this emergency,” the letter read.