Tens of thousands of Austin households and businesses went days without electricity after a winter storm wreaked havoc across Texas.
A damaging ice storm swept across Central Texas beginning Jan. 30, plunging much of Austin into darkness for days after causing trees and power lines to fall. Statewide, more than 400,000 Texas electricity customers didn’t have electricity at one point. The state’s capital was the epicenter as more than 170,000 Austin Energy customers were without power at the height of the crisis. And as of Feb. 7, many may have to wait several more days for crews to get them back online.
Austin officials said the sheer number of downed trees, power lines and electricity poles — and the complicated task of making repairs — obstructed efforts to quickly restore power for tens of thousands. “When we talk about adaptation, when we talk about resilience, what it means is that day to day, it costs more money to do that,” said Jeffrey Schlegelmilch, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University. “Now, it saves it in the long run. It saves it both in terms of economic loss as well as lives and livelihoods. But that [cost] is unavoidable.”
“By having a black hole in communications, unfortunately, the city of Austin has set themselves up for a narrative that they can’t deliver on the services,” said Steven Pedigo, the director of the University of Texas at Austin’s LBJ Urban Lab, which focuses on urban policy.Hua Chen, Huilan Liu and Juxiang Wang gather at a neighbor’s house on Feb. 1 for an improvised potluck cooked using propane and butane burners during the power outages caused by ice storms in Austin.
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University of Texas at Austin students will hold referendum on “Eyes of Texas”The nonbinding referendum is meant to gauge student opinion on the divisive alma mater but would not result in any changes to the song. Student leaders called for it in response to a 2021 university report on the song’s history that found it was “not overtly racist.”
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University of Texas at Austin students will hold referendum on 'Eyes of Texas'A report concludes the intent of the song was “not overtly racist” but acknowledged that “it is similarly clear that the cultural milieu that produced it was.”
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University of Texas at Austin students will hold referendum on “Eyes of Texas”The nonbinding referendum is meant to gauge student opinion on the divisive alma mater but would not result in any changes to the song. Student leaders called for it in response to a 2021 university report on the song’s history that found it was “not overtly racist.”
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Austin City Council to discuss Austin Energy's performance during winter stormDistrict six council member Mackenzie Kelly discussed what's to come in the upcoming city council meeting regarding Austin Energy and city manager Spencer Cronk.
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Texas ice storm: 4% of Austin Energy customers still without power days after major outageAs of Monday afternoon, 4% of Austin Energy customers, roughly 20,000, were still without power. More than 400 mutual aid workers have joined Austin Energy crews working around the clock to restore that power.
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Texas ice storm: About 5,100 Austin Energy customers still without powerFor Austin Energy leaders and City Manager Spencer Cronk, Tuesday's briefing was an additional chance to update those on day seven without power, as well as offer up an apology.
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