bear2be2 said:
VaeBear said:
I was listening to an update from Missouri City earlier about the storm. The mayor started it off with a summary and then passed the mic over to the State Rep. He comes on and starts talking about how they are going to investigate what happened and look into ERCOT, etc., etc. That's all good and well, but that's not the information I need now. I needed information on how much longer I'm going to have to boil my water. I'm sure others needed to know information on their electricity and water as well. I got a lot more useful information from the city council and staff about what's happening now. Not about stuff that can be taken care of much later. State and Federal politicians are useful for making phones calls but not for taking care of the details. Otherwise they just get in the way in times like these. I don't need Ted Cruz or any other politician to come to my house and boil water for me for a photo op.
You don't need that, and that's good. But there are people who do have genuine needs, like the poor man in Abilene who just froze to death in his recliner -- or my neighbor with kidney issues and no safe water to drink.
Ted Cruz is as capable as anyone else of sending a quick text or making a quick wellness check on a vulnerable neighbor. It may or may not score him political points, but those impacted would sure appreciate it.
Don't live in Texas but I've got six elderly neighbors, 2 of whom are single widows with mobility issues, who would have needed help to survive if we'd lost heat and power in ultracold temps for more than 10 hours.
A utlity system that leaves people who don't have the money and ability to install and maintain a robust generator to get them through prolonged outages mmeans more old and poor people die.
If that doesnt matter to you maybe a system that isn't adequately protected from extreme weather events will discourage new businesses from locating in Texas. I'd be skeptical of moving a workforce to a state where the ****show going on right now had happened.