The winter storm that happened recently caused a series of rolling blackouts that affected many students in the Rio Grande Valley, forcing them to find ways of dealing with the cold along with other problems.
Students such as psychology senior Victoria Martinez had no electricity for a couple of days.
“I actually didn’t have access to my electricity back until Friday evening, and this put a lot of strain on my classwork,” Martinez said.
She said she is grateful that her professors changed due dates because of the blackouts.
Despite still having access to clean water, Martinez and her family still needed to deal with the cold.
“We did a lot of layering, definitely wearing large amounts of clothes on to keep warm. We used a lot of body heat,” she said.
Mass communication junior Everado Gonzalez was one of the few who were not affected by a blackout but had to face another problem altogether.
“I had to make a 40-minute line to get gas because some of the gas stations were closed and some others had very long lines,” Gonzalez said.
He also mentions that he had to take his brother’s car to work due to his own freezing over during the nights.
“All the glass was full of ice…I spent like 20 minutes trying to get it off,” Gonzalez said.
Emergency Management Coordinator for UTRGV Pablo Mendez gives tips on how people can stay warm if a similar event arises.
“There is different techniques that are recommended to keep warm…layering clothing is one of the most important ones…hand warmers… rooms that you are not using, you can close them,” Mendez said.
He also says that covering up windows with duct tape can limit draft from coming inside. He continues by saying you can cover the bottom of your front and back door with towels to also cover any cold that may come through that way.
Mendez said candles or fireplaces can be used to keep warm but warns to take proper precautions and not to fall asleep with them on to avoid a possible fire.
If a city issues a water boil advisory, he mentions an alternative way to get clean water.
“If you have a barbecue pit… you can get a pot that would be good enough to put on the grill and heat up your water that way,” Mendez said.
He also advises students to follow the National Weather Service in Brownsville in order to be warned for any incoming storms so that they may prepare before disaster strikes.
