Saturday morning temperatures can be as low as 20 degrees for many inland locations, including Dallas and College Station, but the welcome return of land winds and strong sunshine will warm the state up to the 50s and 60s in the afternoon said CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam. Most of the state will remain above zero after the initial defrost.
A weak cold front is expected for Sunday night, but it should bring only minimal impacts.
Smita Pande in Austin told CNN that she lost power to her home earlier in the week, and she and her husband stayed at a friend’s house until the water ran out. The group then traveled to the home of another friend who had public services until the water supply also failed. The three families returned to Pande’s house, where they relied on collecting snow to melt and flush their bathrooms.
Although the power has now been restored, Pande has heard that waiting for water can last for a few days.
“At this point, we are planning to get water in a week, we have to assume the worst case scenario,” Pande told Don Lemon of CNN in an interview on Friday. “We are listening for two or three days right now, let’s hope for the best.”
Race to restore utilities
Dr. Schuwan Dorsey told CNN that she lost energy and water on Monday and went to sleep with her two dogs in her car, starting the engine intermittently to generate heat.
Her Life Alert bracelet was offline because the electricity in her home was cut off, Dorsey also said.
“I was in danger of my health,” said Dorsey on Friday, noting that his energy was on for just three minutes on Wednesday. Since then, electricity has returned completely, but the water remains out.
With broken pipes and power outages, Austin Mayor Steve Adler told CNN that his city needs water more than any other resource. When the power grid failed, it impacted the main water treatment plant and the city’s reservoir was lost, Adler told CNN’s Poppy Harlow newspaper. Those who have water are under the guidance of boiling water.
“This is a community of people who are scared, upset and angry,” said Adler. “Eventually, we are going to need better answers as to why we are here and how we prevent this from happening again. But for now, we are just trying to get water.”
Williams said there are also problems with staff, as some employees have had to stay in place to care for patients, overloading food, bedding and water. Drug supplies and supplies have declined, although there are some supply trucks moving on Friday, Williams said.
State leaders respond to water crisis
Water supply disruptions are not expected to disappear after freezing temperatures have disappeared: frozen pipes have burst, but many are concerned that even more pipes will disappear as they thaw.
“We know that there will be great demand for plumbers today tomorrow than this weekend for the next few days,” said the governor. “We want to make sure that we do everything we can to help you get access to the plumbers you need to solve your plumbing and leakage problems along these lines.”
The state is also pushing for testing of local water systems through a partnership with the federal government and neighboring Arkansas, Abbott announced on Friday.
Working with the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Texas Environmental Quality Commission has set up three mobile water testing laboratories, according to Abbott.