Texas Winter Storm 2021

Texans are acutely aware of the devastation wrought by Winter Storm Uri; many are still dealing with the aftermath of the storm, which hit on February 13. New data, however, reveals just how devastating the freeze was for the Lone Star State and its beleaguered people.

Uri knocked out power to nearly 4.5 million homes and businesses, killed over 100 people, and caused an estimated $295 billion in damage. The storm became the state's single-largest insurance claim case.

More than two out of every three Texans — sixty-nine percent — lost power for an average of forty-two hours during the storm. Meanwhile, almost half of the people — 49% — went without running water for more than two days on average.

Besides, nearly one-third of residents said their homes had been flooded.

These figures come from a new study from the University of Houston's Hobby School of Public Affairs. The Hobby School polled Texas residents aged 18 and up who live in the 213 counties covered by the Texas Electrical Grid, operated by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).

Nearly three out of four Texans — seventy-four percent — disapprove of ERCOT's results during the winter storm, with sixty-five percent strongly disapproving, highlighting the grievances millions have voiced after the storm passed. Approximately seventy-eight percent of respondents say they do not think the power outages in their region were handled fairly.

How many Texans were in favor of the council? According to the poll, only 6% of people approve of ERCOT's widely panned storm response. Following the near-total collapse of the state's power grid in the wake of the storm, seven ERCOT board members resigned.

More than three-quarters of those polled support policy changes require electricity generators to weatherize and increase reserve power and natural gas companies to weatherize to compete in the Texas market.

According to the survey, most respondents are opposed to legislation that would require customers to pay an extra fee to finance electricity generator weatherization efforts and increase reserve electricity generation capacity.

Other noteworthy results from the Hobby data include:

Sixty-one percent of Texans purchased extra food, 58 percent bought bottled water, and 55 percent filled up their car with gas in preparation for the storm. Insulating tubing, covering or moving plants, and storing tap water were the following most popular preparations.

Seventy-five percent said they couldn't get food or groceries, seventy-one percent said they couldn't get internet, and sixty-three percent said they couldn't get bottled water.

When they lost power and heat, eighteen percent left their home, while forty-four percent went to a relative's house nearby.

Twenty-six percent of those who stayed in their homes without electricity used their gas oven or cooktop as a heat source, eight percent used an indoor grill or smoker, and five percent used an indoor propane heater.

Nearly half of Texans disapprove of Governor Greg Abbott's handling of the winter storm, while just twenty-eight approve.

Before, during, and after the winter storm, more than half leaned heavily on three sources of information:

• 68 percent on local TV news
• 63 percent on neighbors and friends
• 55 percent on The Weather Channel

YouGov surveyed from March 9 to March 19 and received 1,500 responses, yielding a confidence interval of +/-2.5. Gender, age, ethnicity/race, and education were used to fit respondents to a sampling frame, and they are "representative of the adult population in these 213 Texas counties," according to UH.

In a quote, Kirk P. Watson, founding dean of the Hobby School, said, "Winter Storm Uri was a devastating weather event that affected millions of lives across our state." "We are learning important knowledge that will help guide future planning so that a disaster of this magnitude never occurs again by looking deeper into its effects on Texans."