With power cuts and water shortages across the state after a severe winter storm hit Texas this week, some turned to TikTok to document the impact of the historic cold snap.
The videos show homes flooded by pipes bursting, families huddled under layers of blankets and some even boiling snow before using it for drinking and cooking, giving the world a glimpse of the dire conditions that many continue to face in Texas.
In Austin, Texas, Matt Qualman, 27, turned to TikTok after breaking his son’s baby gate and burning it to keep warm while the temperature reached nine degrees inside his apartment. (Warning: the video contains bad words.)
“It’s snowing and freezing, and we didn’t have heating … I didn’t have any firewood at the time, nor did I know where to buy it because no place sells firewood and the closest thing to me was a baby gate,” said Qualman, adding that his fire improvised “warmed the place”.
Qualman said his family was not prepared for such a storm and that it has been “miserable” to wait for the power to return.
Blaine LaBron in Dallas used the social media platform to show that most large corporate buildings had power, while he and other residents were left in the dark for days due to the storm.
“Guess who else has power? Every building in downtown Dallas, all these offices are empty, but they have power,” said LaBron as he expanded the lighted offices across the street.
In Temple, Texas, Arreon Castillo and Andris White, both 20, have had no water or electricity in their apartment complex since Monday. When the pair became hungry, they decided to cook outside, where Castillo filmed a video of White grilling on his snowy outdoor barbecue.
“We had to find a way to cook our food, so we decided to do what we know best, which is barbecue, and we didn’t have lights, so we had to turn around,” Castillo and Andris told NBC News.
Meanwhile, in Plano, Texas, Earl Wilson, 28, an elementary school teacher, gave his followers a tour of his flooded apartment on Monday after a pipe burst at a nearby unit. Wilson said his house was dark and wet, and that he “felt like he was in the movie Titanic”.
“I was sitting on the couch when I started to hear water pouring from everywhere, but I didn’t know where it was coming from and immediately panicked,” said Wilson, who later went to a hotel that night.
The next day, Wilson said he went back to his apartment and used his clothes to absorb as much water as possible; however, he said that his carpeted room and closet are still wet and probably ruined.
“I recorded the video because I wanted people to see how crazy it is here,” said Wilson. “It is unbelievable and I am very happy to have the video, because if I were just talking about it, no one would realize how much water is really in this place.”
Although Wilson’s energy was restored, he said it was a “very stressful and cold week”.
Not far away, Johnson and Beth Ellis, who also live in Plano, Texas, recorded themselves walking around the house displaying all the appliances they were unable to use because of the power outages.
“Lovely oven and microwave … wife, she’s a wonderful cook … I love it, I can’t use them,” said Johnson at one point in the video.
Soon after, the couple sent the recording to the family group chat, and their daughter Sheridan Ellis posted on her TikTok account, saying that “it had to be shared”.
“My parents have been married for 35 years and are obsessed with each other, and I think they wanted to bring a little humor to a difficult situation … I knew people would like it and make them laugh,” said Sheridan.
On Friday, power was restored to millions of Texans and, in some areas hit by the storm, temperatures finally exceeded the freezing point. Still, millions are without drinking water at home, and residents looking for groceries or bottled water say they arrived at stores with empty shelves and long lines.