Brrrrrr

[AllieK]

I know this is commonplace for a lot of you, but Texas does not do sleet, snow, and ice. We just turned our water off so nothing freezes and it might be off for 2 days freeze. I didn't even get to take my bath tonight because the outside faucets were already freezing up.

Sabine, how are you doing?

[Vera]

I did read about the huge vehicle pileup in the Fort Worth area. I didn't think Texas got such cold weather but then anything is possible. We always drain out outside faucets for winter so they don't freeze up. Your inside faucets are OK, right? But then you mentioned not being able to take your bath so that is puzzling to me.

[muzette7]

AllieK perhaps you do not know because cold weather is not common down there. Do NOT turn off the water, you should leave it running at a drip so your pipes do not burst.

[livetobake]

muz is so right. I leave my inside faucet farthest from the hot water tank at a steady drip all night. Both hot and cold. What little it runs up the water bill is nothing compared with the mess and expense of repairs and damage.

[AllieK]

AllieK perhaps you do not know because cold weather is not common down there. Do NOT turn off the water, you should leave it running at a drip so your pipes do not burst.

We tried that the first year we got married and the outside faucets gradually turned off by themselves and everything froze up. Luckily, the pipes did not burst. We live in the country, have a water well and pump and absolutely no buildings nearby to block the wind. When we turn off the pump, and open every faucet inside and out, air gets sucked into the pipes and it drains it back to the water tank and faucet outside and everything is drained. But, we have never had this wind with the freeze before. This is different than anything we have ever had before. I'm lucky I drained it all. Our power went out for about 2 hours last night and when that happens, no power for the pump to keep pumping water.

We've been turning off, and draining every pipe for 40 years. I want to be able to sleep at night and not worry about busted pipes.

[livetobake]

Knowing that, you are in the ballpark. We burnt up the pump when I was a kid with well water and what a mess that turned out being. I still can see my Dad's face when he realized what happened. The repairs cost a lot and we were without water for almost 2 weeks while parts were ordered. Express and overnight were not available back in the 50's like they are now. My Dad built a well house and hung a heat lamp in there so that the pump never froze again.

We will be a high of 17 tomorrow and the low of 0 and that is without wind chill factored in. Just plain bitter and dangerous.

[Sabine]

I know this is commonplace for a lot of you, but Texas does not do sleet, snow, and ice. We just turned our water off so nothing freezes and it might be off for 2 days freeze. I didn't even get to take my bath tonight because the outside faucets were already freezing up.

Sabine, how are you doing?

Hi Alliek and everybody, I am very cold and very tired. We had no electric power from 6:30 am until now. Rolling blackouts all through the night. Scary losing power every 30 min or so.
Temp last night was 9 degrees and yes, we have snow and ice. Highways are closed and basically the town has shut down. Thankfully today is a holiday, less people out and about.
Yes, this is very unusual for us, especially here in south Texas. High today will be heat wave , 25 degrees and tonight back to 12 degrees or something like that.
We are not supposed to get out of this mess until thursday.

[Sabine]

We drip our inside faucets and open the cabinet doors underneath so warm air can get to the wall, especially on the outside walls. I have lived in Texas since 1972 and this is the very first time that we cold temps like that. We had snow before, but never cold like it is now. Sun is out, but with only 25 degrees not much melting is going on. Supposed to go up to 37 tomorrow, hopefully that will help to melt the snow.