Almost one year after the winter storm that devastated the state, Governor Greg Abbott promised preparation, saying the state has resources ready as this storm moves through.
“We are utilizing every applicable state agency to make sure that Texas will robustly respond to this extreme cold winter storm that is going to be sweeping across Texas,” said Governor Abbott.
Gov. Abbott was with the leaders of state agencies at a news conference Tuesday.
TXDOT has been pre-treating the roads. 4,000 people and 2,400 pieces of equipment are ready.
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Executive Director at Texas Department of Transportation Marc Williams says his teams are stocked up and ready.
“We expect that the conditions that we see will make for very hazardous driving conditions and that despite efforts with pre-treatment we cannot guarantee 100% that roads won't have unsafe conditions on them,” Williams said.
The threat of snow, ice and bitterly cold weather renewed the focus on power after the power grid failed a year ago, plunging millions into darkness without lights and heat.
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The Texas Legislature passed a series of reforms, with some arguing the changes did not go far enough. But today, ERCOT’s CEO said the power grid is more reliable than ever.
“We are ready for this storm. We'll be prepared for this. We have about a 71,000 megawatts of expected load, which will be a record for ERCOT during the winter,” said ERCOT CEO Brad Jones.
The governor warned there still remains the possibility of outages because of circumstances, like downed lines because of ice unrelated to the power grid.
State leaders are promising better communication with the public, and calling on all Texans to be careful, stay home and off the roads.
To check road conditions, you can go to Drivtexas.org.
To find warming locations, go to www.tdem.texas.gov.
