FREEZE

Across the Houston area, February is off to a freezing start. The good news is this blast of arctic air won’t be with us long. The bad news is that it’s here just long enough to cause costly problems if you do things that should NOT.

While this week’s bitterly cold temperatures aren’t expected to have the same impact as the February freeze of 2021, people across our area should be prepared so they stay safe. To make sure you have all the information you need at your fingertips, we’ve put the links we use in our news coverage together in one place.

Anticipated cold weather has fire officials in Spring warning residents about dangerous methods they may use to warm up, especially since they’ve already responded to more fires in 2022 than this time last year.

Houstonians are preparing for a potential freeze this week.

Many stores like Bering’s Hardware and The Home Depot say now is the time to protect your home and plants from cold weather.

Local energy experts predict that Texas natural gas consumers should likely expert an increase in their energy bills next year as state leadership and the Railroad Commission of Texas have recently approved measures to allow eight major natural gas providers to recoup $3.4 billion in significant losses due to the storm.

Warmer temperatures are expected to return to the Chicago area next week.

Former customers of Griddy Energy are off the hook. A settlement between the Texas Attorney General and the wholesale electric provider means customers stuck with huge bills from the February freeze won't have to pay a dime.

One Northwest Harris County family is still dealing with the aftermath of the February freeze.

HOUSTON – Water leaks from broken pipes during the state’s big freeze caused big bills for thousands of City of Houston customers. If you have already received a big bill for water usage during the time of the freeze, Houston Public Works Department says you should pay on the due date, but don’t pay the abnormally high amount. You should pay the amount on your previous water bill that was more in line with your normal usage. When you receive your April bill, Houston Public Works says you will notice an adjustment. Public Works says its software will flag accounts with abnormally high usage over the week of the big freeze.

As part of our Ask 2 series, the newsroom will answer your questions about all things Houston. Question: Who is responsible for wrapping pipes at a rental property? Landlords, especially in apartment complexes and condominiums, are responsible for making winter weather preparations before a freeze event occurs, such as pipe wrapping and winterizing. If pipes freeze and they burst, it is the landlord’s responsibility to fix the pipes and pay for all damages. According to the Houston Apartment Association, renter’s insurance usually covers water damage from burst pipes and their property inside the rental home.

HOUSTON – In a “normal” year, Houston area lawns would be looking lush, green and ready for Spring. However, last month’s freeze left our landscape looking brown and dead. Randy Lemmon has been hosting the Garden Line with Randy Lemmon radio show on KTRH News 740 for nearly 25 years. He has been looking for signs of life all over the Gulf Coast region since the big freeze. According to Lemmon, you need to start cutting away all of the brown dead leaves and look for any green you can find.

“Thank God!” said Tyrone Evan, who has been a resident at the senior living apartment complex for the last five years. Evan said residents, who are all 55 years old and older, were without running water for over a week. “When you get water and stuff from the pool, you can’t bathe and stuff in that water. You know what I’m saying.”Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey secured the trucks to bring water to the complex. “These are senior citizens, here they are not able to carry buckets of water like a lot of other folks,” said Ramsey.

He made it clear to us he was in favor of changes being implemented in Texas construction. “We could do a lot better with better building codes in Texas and better enforcement of the building codes that do exist,” he said. Thompson said spray foam is a big help during a freeze. Ad“I think that spray foam insulation and pex pipe is the way to go,” he said. “The spray foam used to be really expensive but now it’s come way down because it’s getting used so much,” said Thompson.

(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)DALLAS (AP) – The blackouts that left much of Texas cold and thirsty have spawned their first lawsuit. The lawsuit filed Friday in a Nueces County court at law in Corpus Christi alleges the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, manager of the state’s main electric grid, ignored repeated warnings of weaknesses in the state’s electric power infrastructure. A Dallas law firm’s statement says its lawsuit also accuses ERCOT and American Electric Power utility of causing property damage and business interruptions during this week’s cold wave. “The resulting widespread property damage from blackouts was caused by their negligence and gross negligence. Ad“The large-scale failure of Texas power companies to withstand the winter storm left multiple millions of Texans without power and heat during lethal, record-low temperatures across the state,” said a statement from Paxton’s office.

Meanwhile, the arctic freeze is over for the time being, as temperatures Sunday and throughout much of next week will climb into the 30s. It was 29 degrees as of 4 p.m. Saturday at O’Hare International Airport and Midway Airport.

Licensed plumber Mike Marsh is seeing a lot of exposed pipes in places homeowners can’t, inside their walls. After examining one pipe that burst inside the wall of a home in Sienna Marsh had this assessment, “They’re not insulated. Not in the days leading up to this week’s storm and freezing temperatures but rather when the home was going up. For Ferguson and Marsh, this was just another home on their list. Marsh shared that he has received approximately 2,000 calls and messages this week.

Southwest Houston – A woman and child are dead after a carbon monoxide poisoning in southwest Houston, according to Houston police. On the 8300 block of La Roche Lane, investigators said the woman was trying to stay warm by running a car inside of a garage, however, fumes from the exhaust seeped inside the car as well as the connecting home. Houston police officers responded to the to conduct a welfare check around midnight and discovered the person dead in the car. Inside the home investigators found another unconscious adult and seven-year-old boy, along with a dead eight-year-old girl according to police. “You know it’s a very difficult time a lot of people are without power I know it’s cold, but you have to be careful about using generators or cars inside of garages…carbon monoxide its odorless and it can kill people,” said Houston police Lt. Larry Crowson.

Many of us have spent the last few days preparing for our temperatures to become even more bitterly cold. Hopefully, you’ve taken steps to make sure your family, your pets, and your home are ready for the frigid weather. Before you settle in to ride out this winter blast though, you should check the inside of your car to make sure you didn’t accidentally leave something outside that could cause an expensive mess.

HOUSTON – Health officials are urging everyone to stay home and stay healthy, even limiting trips to the grocery store. But buying enough food for your family to last more than a week is difficult. We eat perishables like produce, bread and milk and feel like we need to replenish them weekly. If your family can eat a loaf or two of bread a week, buy several and freeze them. Back in your produce drawer, you can freeze that broccoli and cabbage for up to one year.