BYU-Idaho Radio · BYU-Idaho Student Caught in Texas Blizzards
Over the last several days, the country has been getting hit by large winter storms. Texas is getting hit especially hard, with frozen power grids all over the state. The disaster has affected millions, and one of those affected is a BYU-Idaho student.
“I grew up in central Texas and we had snow days, but never anything like this.?We’ve always had water.?It’s just never been like this before,” said Taylor Heikell, who’s currently living with her husband in Baytown, Texas.
Heikell works as a delivery driver for a pizza place. That job, she said, turned into a “nightmare.”
“The roads were really slippery, and it’s been like that since Sunday,” she said.
The conditions have made it very difficult for some people to get access to basic necessities. Water and food have become somewhat scarce, or even unobtainable. Heikell said this has been worse than when COVID-19 first came to town.
“There wasn’t anything at the stores,” she said. “It was just cleared out. It was way worse than when COVID started honestly.”
The blizzard has knocked out power to millions over the last week. Houston’s power grid is mainly gas-powered, so freezing temperatures have proven to be problematic, to say the least. Heikell has been without power for days and wants to let others know that this experience has proven how important it is to stay prepared.
“I didn’t even know we were on an independent power grid until this all happened, so I would tell everyone to have a backup generator in case anything like this happens. Fill your bathtub with water so you have something in case the tap goes out. It can be really scary,” said Heikell.
You can keep tabs on the progress of repairs to power grids in the state of Texas here.