what were common types of damage due to the storm? how much did the storm cost ($$)? death toll?
Winter Storm Uri 2021 The Economic Impact of the Storm
Winter Storm Uri, the severe conditions upshot of February 2021, will long be etched into many Texans' minds. What might have been a rare opportunity for residents to experience significant snow accumulation turned catastrophic equally power blackouts spanned most of the state from Feb. 15-18. A survey conducted by the University of Houston (UH) Hobby School of Public Affairs in mid-March found that more than two out of three, or 69 percent, of Texans lost power at some point during Feb. 14-twenty, and virtually half, or about 49 percentage, had disruptions in h2o service. The tempest contributed to at least 210 deaths, and sources cited past the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas estimated the land's storm-related fiscal losses would range from $80 billion to $130 billion.
Texas Energy and the Wintertime Storm
Like many other things in Texas, energy is big, and much of it also is independent. That independence extends to Texas' unique place as the only country in the continental United states of america that is not essentially interconnected with either the Eastern Interconnection or the Western Interconnection (Showroom ane). The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) regulates the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which manages the electricity grid.
Exhibit 1: ERCOT GRID COVERAGE
Source: ERCOT
More than 26 1000000 Texas customers, or almost ninety percent of the state's population, depend on ERCOT for electricity services. ERCOT does not have its own grid infrastructure but instead relies on power generation companies, electricity providers/utilities (i.e., investor-owned and municipally owned providers, electrical cooperatives and the river regime), and transmission and distribution utilities that participate in the wholesale energy market.
Texas energy is generated from a variety of sources (PDF) with the bulk supplied by natural gas, wind and coal — 51 percent, 24.8 percent and 13.4 percent, respectively (Exhibit 2). More than than 1,800 agile market place participants generate, motility, buy, sell or utilise wholesale electricity, and ERCOT works with them to provide individual consumers with electricity. To ensure that the process runs smoothly, ERCOT produces seasonal planning reports to prepare for changes in weather condition and demand, as well as for potential emergencies based on historical information and planned outages for maintenance as well as other similar purposes.
Showroom 2: ERCOT GENERATING CAPACITY, FEBRUARY 2021
| Natural Gas | 51% |
|---|---|
| Wind | 24.8% |
| Coal | xiii.iv% |
| Nuclear | 4.9% |
| Solar | three.8% |
| Other | 1.9% |
| Storage | 0.two% |
Source: ERCOT
Winter Storm Uri far exceeded the parameters of ERCOT's seasonal planning. Co-ordinate to the National Atmospheric condition Service, freezing pelting and drizzle coated North and Central Texas equally the tempest began rolling in on Feb. eleven, 2021, causing up to one-half inch of ice accumulation in some locations. Snow later followed on Feb. 14-17, with five inches recorded at Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) International Airport and 4.6 inches recorded at Waco Regional Airport. DFW recorded 139 consecutive hours of at or below freezing temperatures, and the Waco airdrome recorded 205 consecutive hours.
Gov. Greg Abbott issued a state of emergency announcement (PDF) on Feb. 12 due to the severity of the tempest. On Feb. 13, some electricity generators began experiencing outages, and on Feb. fourteen, ERCOT issued a public plea for customers to reduce free energy usage subsequently power generation could non be increased to meet demand. As the filigree continued to struggle to run into demand, controlled blackouts occurred, and on February. 15, ERCOT issued a declaration of emergency. According to a University of Texas at Austin (UT-Austin) Energy Report (PDF), the grid did non normalize until Feb. xix and narrowly missed a catastrophic failure that potentially could have caused a total blackout throughout the state.
A Perfect Storm of Causation
The UT-Austin report found that Uri, although not the nearly severe Texas wintertime storm on tape, caused the most loss of electricity. The report also stated that rolling blackouts were intended to take stress off the ability grid but turned into outages that — in some parts of the state — lasted several days. According to the study, multiple factors caused those extended blackouts, including that ERCOT underestimated peak need by nearly 14 percent and conditions forecasts misjudged the severity and timing of the storm.
While planned generator outages fell inside the appropriate range listed in ERCOT's seasonal programme, the report found that outages were notwithstanding high in number. Additionally, free energy power generators failed on all fronts, including those powered by natural gas, wind and coal.
Texas Lives Affected
Exhibit 3: Percentage OF TEXANS WITHOUT ELECTRICITY OR RUNNING WATER, FEB. 14-20
- Electricity: 69%
- Water: 49%
Source: Academy of Houston, Hobby School of Public Affairs, "The Winter Storm of 2021" survey
As mentioned, 210 people perished because of Winter Storm Uri. Co-ordinate to the Texas Section of Land Health Services (DSHS), virtually fatalities can be attributed to hypothermia, vehicle crashes, carbon monoxide poisoning and chronic medical weather condition complicated by the tempest. (DSHS continues to monitor and update this effigy as new information becomes bachelor.)
Many residents found conditions within their homes unbearable, with indoor temperatures at or below freezing. Texas residents who were dependent on electrically powered medical equipment were especially vulnerable. According to the UH survey, of the 69 per centum of Texans who lost ability during the storm, their average disruption was 42 hours — 31 of those sequent. And of the 49 percent of Texans who lost running water, their average disruption was 52 hours (Showroom 3).
In addition to electricity and other utility disruptions, Texas residents experienced a host of negative effects from the winter storm (Exhibit 4). The UH survey institute that iii-quarters of respondents had difficulty procuring food and groceries. Meanwhile, 31 percent had water damage to their residences, and of those, only xviii pct believed insurance would likely encompass the damage.
Showroom 4: PERCENTAGE OF TEXANS EXPERIENCING OTHER NEGATIVE Effects OF WINTER Tempest URI
| Negative Bear upon | Pct of Texans Experiencing Outcome |
|---|---|
| Injury or Illness in Firsthand Family | 22% |
| Difficulty Obtaining Food/Groceries | 75% |
| Lost Jail cell Phone Service | 47% |
| Water Damage to Residence | 31% |
| Economical Damages | 49% |
| Loss of Cyberspace | 71% |
| Difficulty Finding Plumber/Service | 29% |
| Loss of Running Water | 57% |
| Loss of Electricity | 71% |
Source: University of Houston, Hobby School of Public Diplomacy, "The Winter Tempest of 2021" survey
A recent study by the Texas Existent Estate Center at Texas A&M Academy reported that, in 2019, eleven per centum of homeowners in metropolitan areas had no homeowners insurance, compared with 26.6 percent of uninsured homeowners outside those areas. The center also found that low-income Texans were more probable to exist uninsured, leaving them to pay for the entirety of their abode repairs.
Supply Chain Disruptions
Supply chains, which already were in turmoil considering of the COVID-19 pandemic, suffered more disruption due to Winter Storm Uri. This setback included Texas chemic plants, which brand up nearly 75 percent of U.S. chemical product and contribute to the manufacture of ingredients necessary for disinfectants, plastic bottles, fertilizer, pesticides and packaging. The freezing temperatures and blackouts damaged equipment in those plants, farther slowing supply lines.
Chemical, plastic and prophylactic exports — accounting for virtually 17 percent of Texas exports during the iii months prior to the winter storm — saw their inflation-adjusted value decrease past more than twenty percent in February 2021. Additionally, supply chains stumbled because appurtenances could not be transported by truck or rail in such dire weather conditions.
Agronomical Losses
According to an guess from the Texas A&G AgriLife Extension Service (AgriLife Extension) in March, Texas agriculture experienced losses of more than $608 million from Winter Storm Uri. AgriLife Extension found that ranchers not but lost cattle, sheep, goats and poultry to the extreme cold, but much of their grazing grain was lost besides. The latter left ranchers with few options except to purchase additional feed.
Some dairy operators were forced to dump milk due to transportation difficulties during the storm. And because the wintertime tempest hit during birthing season, it led to the loss of many newborn calves and lambs. Overall, AgriLife Extension tallied economic losses to ranchers at nigh $228 one thousand thousand.
The aforementioned group estimated losses for citrus farmers of at least $230 meg. Some Rio Grande Valley producers lost more than than 60 percent of their crops. Citrus crops that did not survive the tempest may take years to replace and begin producing fruit, causing an even greater economic impact. Vegetable crops also suffered, with devastating losses totaling almost $150 million. The most meaning impact to vegetable farmers was to onions, leafy greens and watermelons. Agricultural production disruption and the related increased cost of livestock feed contributed to some higher costs at grocery stores every bit well; with yields down, prices went upwardly.
Source: https://comptroller.texas.gov/economy/fiscal-notes/2021/oct/winter-storm-impact.php
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