Hi, Ladies!
I’m sure you’ve heard that Texas is really struggling right now, so I wanted to give a bit of a life update on how things are going down here.
In my area we started having unprecedented low temps on Saturday, and then on Sunday into Monday we got some freezing rain and some snow. And everything has gone downhill from there. The temperatures have not risen above freezing since then, and they aren’t supposed to until Friday or Saturday. In addition, we’re supposed to get more freezing rain and snow before tomorrow morning (I’m writing this Tuesday evening). Things are so bad that they’ve already canceled school for the rest of the week in our district.
But it’s not the snow creating all of the problems. The real problems are resulting from the fact that it seems that Texas wasn’t adequately equipped to handle all the demands on the power grids. So now there are 4 million people without power, which is obviously very dangerous with the record setting low temperatures for our area.
I have several close friends (most of y’all probably know a couple of them well) that have been without power for way too long. I’m talking 36-48 hours now without power. Their pipes are freezing, their gas is shutting off periodically, and the interior of their homes is in the 30s. Some neighborhoods are fine (my neighborhood has been one of the lucky few), some are experiencing rolling blackouts to try to conserve power, but other neighborhoods have outages that have gone way beyond “rolling” and things are getting critical for these families.
Sadly, the news is reporting that there is no promise for when the power will come back on. In fact, elected officials have told everybody to not expect anything to change for at least a couple more days. It’s all terrible.
Please join my family in praying for all that are experiencing these power outages. Pray that people are able to withstand the outages and of course that power gets restored as quickly as possible.
UPDATE: As of Friday morning power has been restored to many, although there are some that are still shockingly without power. The main problem now seems to be that as homes are starting to thaw out, pipes are bursting all over the place and thousands of homes and businesses are flooding. To further complicate things, grocery stores don’t have much food (if any), gas is hard to come by, and many homes don’t have water (and some have to boil water if they do have it). Please continue to pray.
HOW TO HELP
In addition to prayers, there are many ways to help. If you are local, I know that many churches are communicating via social media letting people know what kind of supplies they need. I also know that the mayor of McKinney has set up an e-mail system where e-mails are being sent out for various needs. For example, an e-mail was sent out that requested a space heater for an elderly cancer patient, and they were able to fill the need quickly as a result of the e-mail. UPDATE: After e-mailing help@mayorfuller.com yesterday, I received a reply this morning. Right now the e-mail is actually set up for you to tell what items/services you have to offer. They take that information and match it to needs that they’ve heard about. If local, you can e-mail help@mayorfuller.com to get put on the volunteer e-mail list if you have anything to offer.
When scrolling instagram last night, my friend Bridget shared that The Family Place in Dallas needs help. A pipe burst at their emergency shelter and they are having to move 123 women and children to a new location. The Family Place has been helping victims of family violence in North Texas since 1978. They provide everything needed to help victims become survivors, and now they need our help! You can donate HERE.
And although not local to me, I had a college friend (shout out, Kallea!) that posted a very easy way to help on Facebook. This is for Oklahoma, but you can go HERE (this is NOT an affiliate link) where you will find an Amazon wish list that will ship directly to a church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Just make sure you choose City of Hope Outreach c/o Jon Maust’s Gift Registry Address as the shipping address. They are handing out all items that they receive, and I know these items are blessing the people in the community that need them immensely. I’m not sure if Tulsa is having power outages now, but when they started the Amazon wish list, it was to help the homeless that were being exposed to these dangerously low temperatures. If anybody knows of Amazon pages set up like this for different areas in Texas, please share!
UPDATES as of Friday 02/19:
Genesis Women’s Shelter – Genesis Women’s Shelter is another fantastic organization that was created in order to give women in dangerous situations a way out. Their mission statement is to provide safety, shelter and support for women who have experienced domestic violence, and to raise awareness regarding its cause, prevalence and impact. The shelter had pipes burst in their facility, so they are in dire need of donations right now. You can donate directly HERE.
McKinney Little Free Pantry – The McKinney Little Free Pantry meets local food needs immediately in my community. Grocery stores here are super low and kids are home from school, so the food needs are extremely high right now. Furthermore, needs will only be increasing as people struggle to find temporary housing after being displaced, pay for the damages incurred at their homes, and deal with lost wages as a result of their businesses being closed. You can support them HERE (scroll down to bottom right of page) or you can shop their Amazon wish list and have the products shipped directly to them. The Amazon page might say “Sanchez Charities”, which is correct.
If any of you have suggestions for other ways to help, please leave information in the comments! I would love to have a large list of different ways for people to help.
So many prayers for everybody to stay safe and stay warm. Lots of love.
Dana says
It is so heartbreaking! I saw yesterday that people can take water bottles to their fire stations in Fort Worth if they can get there safely. I know a lot of people are on boil orders right now and many don’t have electricity.
Sheaffer says
I hadn’t heard that. Thank you, Dana. xoxo
Becky says
Are there warming stations available for these communities? I would assume so! We often, living in IN, had to shut off certain rooms in these situations, and we have had our fair share. We would put blankets over doors and windows to help insulate. We did have a propane heater so we could stay in one central area and be very toasty. Being without power is the absolute worst…..
Sheaffer says
Hi, Becky! There are. I tried to copy and paste a list into the post, but every time I would do it, it would mess up the coding of the post and all of the spacing would go crazy. There’s lists all over the area, so I’m hoping those with service are able to access the lists I’ve seen floating around! xoxo
Lindsay says
My sweet aunt lives in Carrollton. She just got back from the hospital (from falling), and she has had no power for at least 36 hours. Last night, she had a pipe burst in her attic. It’s just so very sad. I live in Austin and we were also without power for about 32 hours. Thank God we have a wood burning fireplace! People are definitely suffering. We are praying for the right supplies to get to the people that need it the most!
Sheaffer says
Oh my goodness, Lindsay! Your poor aunt! Yes, so many prayers. xoxo
Jenny Abrams says
Once you have a list, please share. I’ll post on my Instagram page…I only have about 1500 followers, but you never know who will see it and be moved to act.
Sheaffer says
Great! Thank you, Jenny! I’ll update the post later this afternoon! xoxo
Brittany Friar says
Thank you so much for gathering this. We have been so blessed to still keep power (just down the street in Plano). I will donate to the shelter. Thank you ❤️❤️
Sheaffer says
Thank you, Brittany!!!!
Nancy Crain says
ourcalling.org is an organization Erv and I support that provide food and shelter for the homeless here in Dallas. They opened up the convention center to provide meals and a warm place to sleep, with over whelming response from the homeless community.
Sheaffer says
Perfect! Thank you, Nancy!!!! Miss you!
Heidi says
We are in bad shape in Kentucky as well. Expecting another round tonight and school is canceled all week. Prayers going out to all those affected by storms this week.
Sheaffer says
Prayers for you and Kentucky as well, Heidi! xoxo
kari says
I love how you share information that helps others. Job well done.
Cheriese says
Here’s a way for Texans to help each other. If you live in Texas and are lucky enough to have electricity, please reduce your usage as much as possible! Turn off everything you don’t need that can be turned off and unplug unused appliances. Don’t do laundry unless you have to. If everyone will reduce their usage and take some of the demand off the power grid there will be more electricity to go around.
Sheaffer says
Yes, definitely! All great tips, Cheriese!!! I didn’t think to include this information in the post, so I will go add it now! xoxo
Sarah M says
Thank you for sharing this! I am in Southeast TX and thankfully still have power (though not surprised if we lose it at some point) but water is a big issue – there is no water pressure in the city due to so many burst pipes and people running water to prevent freezing, and now we’ve been put on a boil water notice. Having power and a home and a couple cases of water in the garage from the last hurricane, we are feeling very blessed compared to so many!!
Sheaffer says
Oh goodness! Hoping your water pressure returns soon, Sarah!
Jennifer says
Thank you for sharing this perspective and ways to help! Praying for you and all of those in Texas who are struggling and in danger. ❤️
Diane says
Thank you for educating people on the epic fail of Texas power system. Texas is the only state in the country that regulates its own power. I pray some changes come so innocent residents are protected in the future.
Liz Piasecki says
I hope Shay, Andrea, and Erika are safe! Glad you are able to keep us informed about what’s going on. We are expected another round of snow and ice starting tonight. My electricity was out for three days. I have a feeling I’ll be losing it again tomorrow night.
Sheaffer says
Mine and Erika’s family have had it easy. Shay and Andrea have not been so lucky. They’ve had their power off for almost 3 whole days now. Prayers for them and for you too, Liz. xoxo
Amy Williams says
Glad to see you are doing ok Sheaffer. Is @mixandmatchmama ok? No post today so I’m worried…
Sheaffer says
Shay and her family have not had it easy. 🙁 They’ve had only little tiny bursts of power during the last 3 days. They have been (and are still) worried about their pipes freezing and bursting. Lots of prayers for them! Thanks for checking on her. xoxo
Kimberly Penson says
Sheaffer,
Thank you so much. Long time follower. You are so sweet. We are south of Austin. Rolling power since Monday night. A water pipe broke in our preschool area at church (I’m the children’s pastor). So sad and so devastating. Thank you for raising awareness and praying.
Sheaffer says
Oh my word, Kimberly. And yes, you are one of the OG followers. I appreciate you so much. I’m so sorry to hear about your church. Prayers to all those having to deal with this difficult circumstances!
Karen Hohman says
We are praying for you all in TX!
Julie says
Thinking about all of you SO, SO much! Lots of love and continuing prayers going out to everyone struggling and hurting from this weather event.❤️??
Kim N says
Have been praying and will continue! Thanks for updating us.
Jen says
Praying for everyone and have donated to a few places listed. I hope you guys warm up temperature wise very soon! I know you are wishing these days hurry by so the sun will warm everything up. I pray for minimal damages to the homes. So devastating to watch. We were one of the lucky states to just get rain (in Georgia).
Deb says
You had a link on Instagram for Sanchez charities. Could you share again if they still need help?
Sheaffer says
Yes, Deb! It’s still live on stories, but I’ll drop it here too. Thank you!!!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/clpf/ref=smi_ge_rls_rd_cl?ie=UTF8&orig=%2Fhz%2Fcharitylist%2Fls%2F74ZE8VYLKB1Z%2Fref%3Dsmi_ext_lnk_lcl_cl&ref_=smi_se_cl_rd_ge
Emily says
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3OLFPTBTU9OMW?ref_=wl_share
LOVEPACS —
Amazon List for food insecure kids in the Dallas area with their needs growing with this storm. They provide food for kids on weekends and holidays. 0 overhead. Food is stored in volunteer garages.
Wonderful org!!!
Sheaffer says
This is wonderful! Thanks, Emily!