At one point, over 4.4 million power outages occurred in Texas after the brutal storm brought freezing temperatures and heavy snow. Anger over the state’s power grid failing in the face of a record winter freeze has been mounting, as residents remained shivering, not knowing when their electricity and heat – out for 36 hours or longer in many homes – would return.

In response to this uncertainty, people from other states who are used to harsh winters started sharing advice on social media, explaining to Texans how to say safe and warm. Rebecca Mix is one of them.

The Michigander author, who writes young adult and middle-grade fantasy about angry girls and creepy magic, created an entire Twitter thread with advice on clothing, pet care, and much, much more. Continue scrolling and check it out!

More info: rebeccamix.com | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

Image credits: mixbecca

Twitter user @G7ahgase7 did an excellent job of describing the situation—and it took them only one tweet. On February 13, they uploaded a series of pictures, showing local vegetation covered in frost and ice. Bored Panda included the images in our first article on the devastating weather in Texas as it was an accurate and vivid representation of what has been going on in the state.

“I live in a part of Texas called the Hill Country,” @G7ahgase7 told Bored Panda. “I’m about 45 miles outside of Austin. Typically, the weather this time of year can be really mild, such as highs in the 60’s. We sometimes joke that we’d love to have actual winters here (it’s supposed to be in the upper 60’s to low 70’s next week).”

Image credits: mixbecca

“This weather has affected us in ways we never expected. The electricity keeps going off, so we are freezing,” the Texan said. “Water is non-existent, the city turned it off. The roads are littered with cars that failed to get their owners to their destination. We have 2 grocery stores in our town, and they are both very close to being empty, yet people who can make it there are waiting outside for close to half an hour to get inside.”

Image credits: mixbecca

@G7ahgase7 works as a phone operator at a hospital about 30 miles from home. “I was stuck there for 4 days until I thought it was safe enough to get home. Well, I was wrong. My car slid down a big hill about half a mile from my house, into a ditch, and I was hurt because of the impact,” they said, adding that luckily some very wonderful people pushed their car out of the ditch. “I was able to park it down the mountain, and I got a ride home. There were 7 abandoned cars in the same spot where mine slid off of the road.”

Image credits: mixbecca

Image credits: mixbecca

The Texan knows that not all Americans are as understanding as the people in this list—some people in other parts of the country tease locals about not being able to drive when the roads ice up a little, or about not being able to handle winter snowy weather. As if was some sort of universal contest, determining who the better person is. “What those people don’t seem to understand is that we never have weather like this,” @G7ahgase7 pointed out. “We were caught by surprise. No one ever dreamed it would be this bad. One town nearby had their power go off in the grocery store, so they gave the food away to the people who were inside at the time. This is a very serious situation.”

Image credits: mixbecca

Image credits: mixbecca

On Wednesday afternoon, Gov. Greg Abbott signed an executive order directing natural gas providers to stop all shipments of gas outside the state, ordering them to instead direct those sales to Texas power generators. During a news conference, Abbott said that there remained a lack of power within the electrical grid, and that there were problems getting natural gas and renewable energy generators back online. He did not, however, provide a clear timeline on when the power grid would be fully restored.

Image credits: mixbecca

Image credits: mixbecca

“In my home, I was able to get to my kids after 4 days, but we have no food, electricity, water, nothing,” @G7ahgase7 highlighted. “When this thaws out, I’ll have to deal with cracked pipes, (I’m really worried about that), and getting my car back.”

According to reports, pipes froze and burst all over the state, and warming centers that had opened lost power. Icicles hung from kitchen faucets in Houston, ambulances in San Antonio were unable to meet the surging demand, and the county government in coastal Galveston called for refrigerated trucks to hold the bodies they expect to find in freezing, powerless houses.

Image credits: mixbecca

Image credits: mixbecca

Image credits: mixbecca

“As the sole provider, this is very scary for me. People are actually dying because they can’t get warm, or fed,” @G7ahgase7 said. “Yes, there are places to go for safety and food and warmth, but most people can’t get there. Pets are dying because people won’t bring them inside. I’ve had to gather snow and let it melt just so the family will have water to drink. There is nothing else we can do. 2020 was tough, and now this deep freeze of 2021. We’re having to live like pioneers. Someone is trying to tell us to appreciate what we’ve got because it’s not guaranteed to always be here.”

Image credits: mixbecca

Image credits: mixbecca

Image credits: mixbecca

Image credits: mixbecca

Image credits: mixbecca

Image credits: mixbecca

Image credits: mixbecca

Image credits: mixbecca

Image credits: mixbecca

Image credits: mixbecca

Image credits: mixbecca

Image credits: mixbecca

Image credits: mixbecca

Image credits: mixbecca

Image credits: mixbecca

Image credits: mixbecca

Image credits: mixbecca

Image credits: mixbecca

Image credits: mixbecca

Image credits: mixbecca

Image credits: mixbecca

Image credits: mixbecca

Image credits: mixbecca

Image credits: mixbecca

Image credits: mixbecca

Image credits: mixbecca

Image credits: mixbecca

Image credits: mixbecca

Image credits: mixbecca

Other people shared useful advice as well

Image credits: EyesUp_Orion

Image credits: EyesUp_Orion

Image credits: VaniTonii

Image credits: VaniTonii

Image credits: NomTheBurritos

Image credits: NomTheBurritos

Image credits: JHopeWorld16

Image credits: c1evernamehere

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