The tragic California wildfires and the debilitating cold in Texas are a sign of the times: things are getting worse and the local government better buckle up.
By Brianna Patt
February 11, 2021 was the beginning of what the National Center for Environmental Information (NCEI) would later refer to as “The Great Texas Freeze.” Nine days of a winter storm that were further compounded by Texas’ lack of preparation for the weather. February 12, a weather disaster declaration was released by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, and it all went down from there.
By February 14, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) released a statement warning of rolling outages and by the 15th ERCOT released a statement, informing people that they would be initiating rotating outages (what they referred to as “load shedding,”) in an attempt to halt a total shutdown of Texas’ grid.
The weather became so bad that Texas grocery chain H-E-B put a ration on water and food purchases.
The true and lasting tragedy of the tumultuous weather however, was the death toll that piled up as a result of the winter storm. In fact, according to the Department of State Health Services, there were a total of 246 deaths tied to the storm with 158 deaths linked to hypothermia.
“While not the most intense freeze in the state’s recorded history, the Great Texas Freeze caused a billion dollars’ worth of damages, state-wide blackouts, hundreds of fatalities, and enacted a massive emotional and financial toll on Texas residents,” the NCEI stated.
As climate disaster ramps up all over, it shouldn’t be forgotten that with every passing winter, the likelihood of that death toll rising gets higher.
GOP politics has a hold on Texas that, historically, has not done enough to prepare us for the onslaught of climate disaster. For example, during the Great Texas freeze Gov. Greg Abbott shifted the blame for the disaster onto Democrats, citing renewable energy resources as responsible. Then, you have Senator Ted Cruz who evaded Texas altogether. With a government that has repeatedly pushed back against (or shown a disinterest in) climate disaster, we are in for a rough few decades. And catastrophes likee the California wildfires display that perfectly.
Mayor Karen Bass for instance, has received a barrage of hate, in part due to the budget cut of 2.7% (a total of $23 million) to the Los Angeles fire department’s equipment. This created an issue where when the fires began to rage they were much harder to quell and isolate. A similar fate has fallen on Texas before, and even with promises by ERCOT that they are more adequately prepared, this reality being repeated again can not be ruled out. Especially considering that climate disaster has already been worse than some climate scientists originally predicted.
If conditions are rapidly worsening, what can we do to minimize the detrimental effects of climate disaster? According to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), Risk Management and planning are central to helping us prepare for the years to come.
“Comprehensive disaster and climate risk management is central to development planning, including in energy, industrial, land, ecological and urban systems,” the UNDRR states via their site. “Risk-centred approaches should be integrated into National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), and adaptation and climate information into national and local disaster risk reduction strategies.”
The UNDRR also emphasizes infrastructure to help with the effects of climate disaster. While, evidently our government may not be very open to planning ahead to circumvent disasters, that doesn’t stop local organizations from working to push back against climate disaster. Environmental activists in Dallas like Downwinders at Risk have already gained prominence for their work, which included blocking the entrance to the GAF shingle plant in protest.
“As long as it continues to operate, it’s going to continue to hurt us,”Janie Cisneros, a protester and leader of the environmental justice group Singleton United/Singleton Unidos told KERA News. “It’s going to continue to harm us.”
On the governmental level, a group of former Public Utility Commission of Texas authored a report in June of 2024 offering recommendations for ERCOT to improve. One of which encouraged designing climate and extreme weather forecasts.
“Texas is the world’s ninth-largest economy,” Wood and his co-authors stated in Inside Climate news. “We owe it to our families and fellow citizens to learn from this event, plan for the future, and do the right thing for the good of Texas.”
