Winter snow blankets state, causes local area outages

Severe winter weather slammed the state this week with record lows in Graham and freezing temperatures and snow causing power outages for residents locally and throughout the state. Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration last Friday for all 254 counties in response to the weather which later impacted the state.

Temperatures in Graham went as low as -5 degrees this week as warming centers were set up around the city to house those without power. Warming centers were located at First Baptist Church of Graham, Oasis of Grace, Young County Arena and Young County Sheriff’s Office, according to the Graham Chamber of Commerce. According to weather underground, Graham saw historic lows on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which manages the flow of electrical power to 26 million Texans and represents about 90% of the state’s electrical load, entered emergency conditions Monday in which they called for rolling electricity outages because the weather conditions caused energy providers across all types to go offline.

“Every grid operator and every electric company is fighting to restore power right now,” ERCOT President and CEO Bill Magness said Monday.

For the rest of the story, see the Feb. 20 edition of The Graham Leader.