Central Texans better prepared for freeze after hard lessons from February 2021

HARKER HEIGHTS, Texas (KWTX) - As Central Texans continue to battle through the winter storm, it’s also brought back a bad memories from the devastating winter storm of 2021.

Now, many residents like Tetyana Quiles are saying “never again.”

“When I ask myself how I got through that, I don’t know,” she said.

“I had a small amount of non-perishable food items that I had to eat that I normally wouldn’t prefer to eat.”

Quiles remembers being so low on water that she had to take snow outside and boil it for consumption. This year is a different story.

“I made sure to stack up on non-perishable food items, water, blankets and candles,” she said.

“I had friends calling me and asking, ‘Tetyana, there’s a storm coming. Do we have everything? Is there something we should grab?’ I absolutely was prepared.”

Meanwhile, Journey Vineyards Owner Steve Hamick says he fortunately had power in his home, but still had a few water issues with his business.

“We have a tankless water system that froze,” he said.

“So, we didn’t have any hot water coming through the pipes and that took around maybe two or three days just to thaw out.”

That didn’t stop him from making sure his water systems were better prepared this year. He also made sure to have enough supplies for himself and neighbors in case they need it.

Even so, Hamick says while much more prepared, there’s still a long way to go through this storm and people need to be careful at home and on the roads.

“The main thing is just to keep planning for it,” he said.

“I keep a list and all it says it when it gets cold outside, here are 15 or so things will try to always make sure to take care of, basic domestic things.”

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