Abbott Warns Texas to Brace for Extreme Weather

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday urged Texans to prepare for an onslaught of extreme weather around the state this week, starting with an extreme cold front in North Texas that is expected to set in on Tuesday night.

The freezing weather probably will be the coldest Texas sees all year, Abbott explained in a press conference on Monday. Some parts of North Texas could experience the coldest weather in state history.

Abbott was confident that the state’s power grid is prepared to handle the extreme cold. He downplayed comparisons to the winter storm in 2021 that brought the entire state to freezing temperatures and crippled the power grid, leaving more than 200 Texans dead.

“The power grid has never been stronger than it is now,” Abbott said, as quoted by the Dallas Morning News. “There is every reason to be 100% confident the power grid will be able to withstand this challenge.”

The Texas Division of Emergency Management expects that “extreme cold will cover a large portion of the state by mid-week,” which could produce snow or ice that will make travel more dangerous, according to its website for the “February Winter Weather” event.

Southeast Texas also will be threatened by severe storms that could bring heavy rainfall, damaging wind, large hail and flash flooding. Meanwhile, West Texas will be watching out for wildfires through the end of Tuesday.

Last Friday, Abbott directed the TDEM to activate emergency response resources ahead of the bad weather. As of Monday, the state had deployed more than 2,000 responders and more than 1,500 vehicles and equipment for the cold.

The National Weather Service has put extreme cold weather warnings in place for much of the northern half of the state. As far south as Austin, cold weather and wind advisories are in place from midnight to noon on Wednesday, and an extreme cold warning is active for the same period on Thursday.

Nim Kidd, the chief of the TDEM, said during the governor’s press conference that homeowners should learn how to shut off their water before the cold in case of burst pipes.

The TDEM disaster website includes resources for disaster preparation, including maps of warming centers, websites to monitor road conditions, and a list of licensed plumbers.