Area yields to cold

More than 4.3 million Texas households and businesses found themselves without power Tuesday morning after unseasonably cold winter weather covered all of Texas and much of surrounding states Sunday afternoon and settled in.

That number dropped to 2.7 million as utility and cooperative employees braved temperatures into the low single digits to reconnect customers. Rural residents were subject to rolling blackouts at the request of the Energy Reliability Council of Texas and Public Utility Commission, who advised energy companies to meter out power to their customers in the face of increased demands on the system from people cranking up heaters to stay warm. The rolling blackouts led to confusion for customers facing power failure, which lasted hours up to days for some.

Criticism was leveled at ERCOT for not being more prepared by Gov. Greg Abbott and many other politicians like State Representative Shelby Slawson, who pledged a review and reform of the way the nonprofit corporation who oversees much of Texas works.

Locally, hotels in Dublin and Stephenville filled up by people seeking refuge from homes without power/and or water. (Ice and colder weather actually rolled in late last week prompting several weekend events to be rescheduled before temperatures dropped further and winter weather advisories were issued.)

VW Stephens opened up the City Limits in Stephenville to people needing to stay warm as did several churches like Oakdale Methodist and the Graham Street Church of Christ.

Businesses from restaurants to retailers faced reduced hours and closed as weather dictated for forecast of frigid temperatures and worry of icy road conditions. This even extended to large retailers like Wal-Mart, who closed Wednesday night and did not predict a return to business until Friday.

The Dublin Post Office ran no routes on Tuesday and Wednesday (after being closed Monday for Presidents Day) since there was no outgoing mail to deliver.

Stephenville and Dublin public works departments responded to issues as widespread reports of frozen waterlines were reported including a water main break in Stephenville which saw workers wade into the water for repairs.

Dublin City Hall closed Tuesday for the safety of its employees with the city waiving late and disconnect fees for its water customers.

In-school instruction was canceled for Dublin and Lingleville until Monday while the Lingleville and Dublin playoff games already set were rescheduled after UIL granted leniency for playoff scheduling due to the statewide emergency.

Snow drifted in to Dublin and the surrounding area during a bitterly cold Sunday night as wind chill made temperatures feel like -18 degrees. Sunshine emerged the next day but much of the snow remained in the 3 degree morning weather (the lowest actual temperature reported locally was -1 degree). Some of what melted turned to ice, packing the dry snow more tightly.

The Erath County Breaking News page on Facebook became a regular posting board for the community as locals advised of road conditions, power outages and where find help to navigate the freezing climate.