It snowed where?!
Snow, ice, and below freezing temperatures. These are all things that everyone that lives in the Reno or Sparks area are very familiar with during the winter months. However, just recently the state of Texas was hit with these kind of weather patterns during the month of February.
To really give you an idea of just how bad of a situation people really found themselves in, I decided to interview a Texas resident, Jason O’Neal, who got to experience the hardships that were felt all over the state of Texas firsthand.
What were the days like leading up to the snow showers, what were you seeing from other people?
So, I’m in Dallas Fort Worth, which is northern Texas, couple days prior to the snowstorm I saw a lot of people buying up firewood, a lot of people buying up camping gear. Many people believed it wasn’t going to be as big of a storm as it was including myself considering I am from a state where snow isn’t uncommon, so I played it off. With this it wasn’t until Friday when I decided to go get firewood from a gas station and I could not find any at any location I went to, this also was the same for all superstores in the area as well. At this point I started to find myself in a slight panic due to the mass of the city’s population knowing how many other people that meant were without wood.
What was that time like for you and how would you describe it?
I lost water for 8 days and power for 5 days. This led to me trying to keep zero-degree weather from taking over my apartment by doing things like pulling my couch up to my fireplace and sleeping there in order to stay warm. I couldn’t shower for a week as well with no water and all places shut down. I’m not going to lie, it was the most challenging time of my life, and I don’t mean that as in emotionally taxing, but it was physically taxing. It’s funny how in that time that you don’t pay attention to anything else other than keeping your fire lit to keep you warm. 49 other states were living their lives while the one state of Texas had simple priorities of just keeping warm and making sure your only food supply doesn’t go bad.
Its very easy to see that the hardships faced in Texas during the snow showers were not only very challenging, but for some those times were devastating. Hopefully the state of Texas will be way more prepared for any future snow fall after this crucial experience.
