Chapotraphouse

Especially terrified for people being held in the ICE concentration camps

Abolish ice

Quick pro tip for people in this place who haven't had to deal with cold like this before: be careful with your layering of clothing, especially if you're expecting to move around a lot. If you layer up a shitload and then start exercising (walking long distances, lifting lots of heavy stuff, etc) you will sweat so much that your clothes get wet, and then when you stop moving you will freeze. If you're expecting to do exercise try to strip your layers down to just whatever keeps the windchill off, or at least have dry base layer replacements on hand.

my life has generally been a steady journey north and it has been a revelation how much more prepared and coordinated communities can be for extreme weather events.

the fact that southern states have not frequently had these ice storms making them less prepared to help people in crisis is wildly exacerbated by austerity politics individualizing risks by default. "oh you don't have a fully off the grid set up with food, water and fuel stockpiles? well how dare you!"

where i live now has a very resilient power grid and has been blasting out the schedule and locations of "warming centers" around town that will be available 24-7, including for sleeping over night.

the state governments of south rarely even make any effort for the more common forecasted events like hurricanes, so if this is as bad as the build up has been anticipating, its going to be really fucked up for a lot of people. and TECOT is going to gouge the shit out of everyone for energy usage is my extremely cold take.

As the polar vortex continues its terminal decline this will become more frequent. It's fascinating the way in which Mother Nature wages irregular warfare on our built environment. Southern states have no capacity for snow removal nor de-icing, not to mention the damage from frozen pipes, downed lines, etc. People truly underestimate the scale at which this will accelerate and fundamentally change the character of large swaths of poor areas of the US.

The only advice I can give is layer your socks and keep extra dry pairs with you in case you need to travel. Also keep a few cheap lighters in your car in case you get stuck, they can help keep your fingers warm so that you maintain dexterity.

That explains that photo of Ted Cruz on his way to California.

guess i'll get to find out first hand if all dogs really do go to heaven

Mother nature heard our demands of war on the American people seriously it seems.

This is going to be devastating to places that aren't equipped to handle snow or ice buildup and plunging temperatures.

Godspeed to any comrades exposed by this.

Here in Alberta, we have a brief cold spell here today of negative 20, and then it's positive weather by monday.

Texas gonna have fun with their fully private isolated grid again I'm sure

the south really cant handle this shit at all. They dont prepare for these events since they dont happen often enough. Im thankful to live in an area that has always had snow, albeit less and less over time. It used to snow on halloween and thanksgiving, never does now.

An inch of ice is baffling. A quarter inch will take down power lines with the extra weight

I’m in a highly affected area but luckily we’re more used to snow and ice here. But it’s gonna be a mess regardless. There’s effectively no state support in place, and the mutual aid orgs I work with up here are so small and shoestring that they can really only coordinate some small relief with basic supplies. The shelters aren’t opening up their doors any more than normal, the charities remain stingy. It’s every person for themselves and I hate it

holy fuck that is legitimately terrifying

ice spirit thresholding a major power card to drive the invaders from turtle island

It will not be worse than a cat 5 what the hell. Cat 5 wipes out your town, like all of it

But yeah it will be bad with that amount of ice

Y'all find out where the water shutoff for your place is, and see if you need to have a tap running, or something to keep pipes from bursting.