11-Year-Old Texas Boy Dies From Frigid Temperatures And No Electricity

[thackney]

Alright... but then I am sure you would know to drain em. And hopefully not have to blow them out.

If I lost power long enough, yes.  We keep them trickling to keep them from freezing. 

The barn and pasture water I blew out with an air compressor.  Today I will learn how I did.

Mine are all in the crawl, outside of the insulation too but they don't freeze. and if needful, turn two ballcocks and the system drains all the way out (except the water heater, toilet, and pea traps, of course)

Many houses here, like mine are built on concrete slab.

And I wouldn't say they'd necessarily freeze anyhow. I reckon y'all don't have operable roof vents, but it still and much to plug em - or even tape em up if you have continuous soffit and ridge vents.. Then she'll hold what heat does pass the insulation, which you will know is not inconsiderable... but rather, to have predicted that and put em under the insulation like you ought, no doubt to that.

Our attics have to be well vented for our summer heat.  It would be near impossible to close them up.  But our crappy insulation lets a good bit of heat in there during winter.

I mean to say it ain't hopeless or hapless. A stitch in time saves nine. Even if that stitch means bustin out a wall and capping them pipes. If you don't the damage will be far worse. There ain't no bet in that.

Planning and follow through always helps.  I'm better at the first but getting there...

[mountaineer]

No ma'am... Pardon the offense, but no. It's the West Virginians that let em. Redneck 101: You make do for yourself. If hillfolk (more than others) can't make do, that's on them.

Of course the West Virginians let it happen to themselves. They used to be hardworking, independent and self-sufficient. Then FDR came along with the WPA, CCC, and all the other alphabet programs, and Byrd perpetuated it with this nonsense of, "See how much I do for you? I built you this road. I got you food stamps." Residents sat back and let it happen. Yes, it's their fault.

Now - at the risk of overgeneralizing - we have a poorly educated state full of unwed mothers, obese welfare recipients and heroin addicts. If they were freezing to death in their own homes and a warming shelter was erected across the street, they'd still wait for someone else to drive them over there.

We have jobs in search of workers who can actually pass a drug test (not to mention the basic math and English test). Personal responsibility is all but gone, just as FDR, RCB and the Democrat party planned.

Sorry to get off track when the topic is the Texas freeze (feel free to smack my hand, moderators!), but the bottom line is that we're all responsible for our own lives, families and safety to the fullest possible extent. When people truly cannot take care of themselves, the government will do a piss-poor job of it.

[roamer_1]

If I lost power long enough, yes.  We keep them trickling to keep them from freezing. 

The barn and pasture water I blew out with an air compressor.  Today I will learn how I did.

 
If it is ABS and in a foot, you're probably fine. It takes a long while for frost to drive in. Especially since your ground is probably way warmer than mine. Believe it or not, the snow helps that. Were it dang cold and bare, the frost drives in way quicker.

Many houses here, like mine are built on concrete slab.

Ain't uncommon here too. I lived a while in a converted 2 car garage. Had water and a drain coming up through the floor (to include a toilet), so simple enough to make a cabin from it. Under the slab footprint will not be frozen providing there is heat in the place. Where folks might mess up is bringing the water and drain up alongside instead of through the slab. or bringing it in close to the wall. Nah. have it come in 3ft in from the end of the slab and figger it into a stub wall or something.

Planning and follow through always helps.  I'm better at the first but getting there...

Ain't we all  I guess I am pickin nits. I got my own troubles too. I don't mean to ream on y'all. It's an awful thing. But it plain lit me off to see a kid die and nobody did a damn thing, when options - SIMPLE options - are readily available that make all the horror of the thing a full-on comfort. Even without planning, a little fast footwork can do something with duct tape and wire... But I guess that starts with knowledge and I guess knowing how things work is going out of style.

Still, it twists me up to see a ceiling collapse because somebody didn't have the sense to go shut the water off and open the faucets. Such a simple thing to prevent disaster.

[roamer_1]

Of course the West Virginians let it happen to themselves. They used to be hardworking, independent and self-sufficient. Then FDR came along with the WPA, CCC, and all the other alphabet programs, and Byrd perpetuated it with this nonsense of, "See how much I do for you? I built you this road. I got you food stamps." Residents sat back and let it happen. Yes, it's their fault.

Now - at the risk of overgeneralizing - we have a poorly educated state full of unwed mothers, obese welfare recipients and heroin addicts. If they were freezing to death in their own homes and a warming shelter was erected across the street, they'd still wait for someone else to drive them over there.

We have jobs in search of workers who can actually pass a drug test (not to mention the basic math and English test). Personal responsibility is all but gone, just as FDR, RCB and the Democrat party planned.

Sorry to get off track when the topic is the Texas freeze (feel free to smack my hand, moderators!), but the bottom line is that we're all responsible for our own lives, families and safety to the fullest possible extent. When people truly cannot take care of themselves, the government will do a piss-poor job of it.

My deepest condolences, and I mean to say it breaks my heart. I have a special affinity for Appalachia and the Ozarks... The holler works the same, even here in the Rockies. I had heard tell the hillbillies of Appalachia, all through coal country, fell to crystal meth and that is a damnable and crying shame.

I get it though. Mountain life is a hard scrabble in the best of times... I can see why it happened so.
What kept it off though - That beautiful and indomitable culture - 'Same as my daddy and his daddy before'... I reckon that fell too. 

Sonsabiches.

Not too long ago, I was told by an Arkansas gal that my drawl was too thick and I should work on that. WTF??? From an Arkansan. She sounded like she was from Iowa, and she could not understand me.
I see the same thing coming all over. Country folks are losing that culture that made them so very bulletproof. I have some small consolation that we were the last to go. The last to be moved. But I never thought that could move at all.