AUSTIN, Texas — Gov. Greg Abbott gave Texans across the state an important message ahead of this weekend's cold snap: Stay home.
"This is basically a polar vortex that's descending upon Texas,” Abbott said. “One of the coldest episodes we'll have been through."
But Abbott said there are two things that make this cold snap different than the devastating winter storm in 2021.
First, he said it won’t last as long. Second, he said the power grid and its generators are more prepared than ever.
"They have never been as prepared for a winter event as they are today, including having a secondary source of fuel available to make sure that they will not lose access to fuel the power generation that's needed to send throughout the entire grid to make sure that you're going to be able to heat your home,” Abbott said.
ERCOT said its fuel and gas supply is also fully stocked and ready to use.
"It will not be anything close to what we experienced during winter storm Uri,” Abbott said. “I emphasize, we're much, much more prepared for this than we were for winter Storm Uri.”
Protecting Your Home
The Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) is warning people to never heat their home in dangerous ways, such as running a generator inside your home or running your car inside your garage with the door closed.
“Carbon monoxide poisonings always happen during these type of cold weather events,” TDEM Chief Nim Kidd said.
To make sure everyone is safe, the State has deployed all of its warming centers for this weekend and early next week.
“There’s no reason for people to stay cold in their home with all of the warming centers that we have across the state,” Kidd said.
There are currently 152 warming center locations in Texas with more are expected to open in the next few days. A map with the full list of locations can be found on the Texas Department of Emergency Management’s website.
TDEM said it has been talking with several school district’s superintendents about possibly closing schools on Tuesday, but no official decisions have been made as of yet. Check with your local school district for more information.