DALLAS — As temperatures dip well below freezing this coming weekend, you may get tired of hearing, again, the same old cold-weather precaution and prevention advice. But some of it is worth repeating, especially the parts about saving your life.
"Complete ceilings falling down in houses, just catastrophic water damage," plumber Jesse Crane with Milestone Home Service Co., said of the infamous February of 2021.
The arctic blast now referred to as Winter Storm Uri busted pipes and shut down power grids across the state of Texas. And, although not expected to be a complete week-long repeat, this coming weekend has the potential to bust a few pipes again.
"It was long days, trying to help as many people as we could," Crane recalled.
So, once temperatures dip below freezing again, he says it's time again to consider a slow drip of faucets if the pipes are on an outside wall, opening cabinet doors so the heat from the house can reach the pipes too, removing outdoor garden hoses and covering hose-bibs to give them added protection, and also know where your water shutoff valve is so you can limit damage if your home does spring a leak.
"If you were to have something, the main thing is knowing how to shut it off and stop it as fast as you can," Crane said.
But then there is the life-and-death discussion. Matt Zavadsky with MedStar agreed to offer those words of advice.
"We were averaging four carbon monoxide responses per day," he said of the winter storm in 2021 where Texas residents, unfamiliar with such bitter cold weather, turned to portable generators and seldom used fireplaces and wood-burning stoves to stay warm.
Zavadsky says the coming weather is worth warning people again that gasoline-powered generators belong outside only, that fireplaces and wood stoves should be inspected first, and that gas stoves should not be used as an alternate heat source inside your home.
"We had a case last year where people were running their car in the garage to sit in the car and stay warm. But they didn't open the garage door," Zavadsky said. "Somebody actually moved their charcoal grill into the house, lit the grill to try and stay warm."
Carbon monoxide built to dangerous, and potentially deadly, levels in both cases.
And he says to be mindful of those who don't have the opportunity to stay warm. Hypothermia in that big cold spell claimed 161 lives in Texas that year.
"So, reminders are always important especially as people are preparing for Sunday, Monday where the temperatures could be well-below freezing," Zavadsky said.
And with the right precautions - problems hopefully well-below average too.