How Texans Stepped Up To Help One Another During The Brutal Freeze

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Texas was hard hit by a brutal freeze that caused record low temperatures across the US (Credit: Matthew T Rader/CC BY-SA 4.0/Wikipedia Commons)

The deadly winter storm, which swept across 22 states — from Texas to Maine — the week of February 14, 2021, delivered large amounts of snow and ice, and established numerous low-temperature records. While over 140 million Americans were impacted, Texas was particularly hard hit. The Arctic chill caused about 60 percent of the state's energy sources to go offline and water pipes to freeze and burst, leaving millions without electricity and water.

While the brutal weather tested Texans' mettle, it also brought out the best in humanity. Here are a few of the many heartwarming acts of kindness reported throughout the week.

Homeowners shelter stranded delivery driver

When Chelsea Timmons left home on February 14, 2021, she had her day perfectly planned. The Houston-based math teacher, who augmented her income by making home grocery deliveries on weekends, intended to complete all her runs in the morning and spend the afternoon relaxing with some chocolates and a glass of wine. However, the weather turned for the worse just as she reached her last delivery at 11:00 am, and her car stalled, making it impossible to complete the three-hour drive home. Upon hearing her dilemma, the homeowners, Nina Richardson and Doug Condon, immediately invited Timmons inside, initially to wait for the AAA tow truck, and then, as the weather worsened, to stay the night.

Chelsea Timmons spent five days with Nina Richardson and Doug Condon during the storm (Credit: Chelsea Timmons/Facebook)

Timmons suggested moving into a hotel as the storm lingered on, but Richardson and Condon refused to consider the idea. “Every morning, when I suggested leaving to a hotel, [they say], ‘Could you make it there safely? What would you eat? What if they lose power? Isn’t the guest room better than the Hampton Inn?'” she wrote in her Facebook post. “They basically have refused to let me leave. Every morning after they say, ‘No worries, stay a bit longer,’ I go to ‘my’ room and shed tears of joy.”

The educator was finally able to return home five days later on Friday, February 19, 2021. Timmons says she will forever be grateful to Richardson and Condon for opening their doors to a complete stranger during a pandemic and sharing their meals when food was in short supply.

Truck owner rescues over 500 strangers from icy roads

On February 14, 2021, Austin resident Ryan Sivley was on his way to the neighborhood store to stock up on some storm essentials when he noticed many vehicles stranded on the roadside. “It was like a sea of cars,” he told the Washington Post. “Some people were stuck in snowbanks and ditches.”

Fortunately, Sivley, who owns a four-wheel drive 2010 Chevrolet Silverado nicknamed, "The Beast," was fully-equipped with hooks, chains, and recovery tow straps, capable of pulling over 40,000 pounds. "I had all my gear, so I thought, ‘let me just help," he said. In most cases, Sivley secured the vehicle to his truck and towed it to an area where the owner could safely drive away. However, in some instances, the 40-year-old pulled the cars all the way to the final destination. By the end of the day, the endeavor to help a few stuck vehicles had turned into a full-on rescue mission involving hundreds of cars. “I went from helping one person to three people, to five people,” Sivley said. “At 434 cars, I stopped counting. So many people are still stranded.”

Ryan Sivley helped tow over 500 people on February 14, 2021 (Credit: Ryan Sivley)

While that would have been enough for most people, Sively was just getting started. Over the week, he transported hundreds of healthcare workers to and from work and helped relocate residents who did not have electricity and running water. As news of his generosity spread, other truck owners reached out, and Sivley was soon managing a network of rescuers. The best part? While some people helped pay for the gas, Sivley never asked to be compensated for all the hard work he did!

Volunteers rescue thousands of sea turtles

The freezing weather particularly impacted the five endangered sea turtle species found in the Gulf of Mexico off the Texas shore. Unable to regulate their own body temperatures, the cold-blooded creatures remain awake but lose their ability to move when water temperatures fall below 50° Fahrenheit (10° Celsius). The condition, called "cold stun," often causes the turtles to die due to injury, stranding, or drowning. To prevent that from happening, hundreds of volunteers braved the freezing weather and rescued more than 4,500 turtles throughout the week.

The animals, sheltered in a combination of tarps, kiddie pools, and boxes at Sea Turtle Inc., a nonprofit education, rehabilitation, and conservation organization in South Padre Island, are now gradually being released back into the ocean. "After an exhaustive 24-hour effort that went through the night and has just ended this morning, Sea Turtle Inc. was successfully able to release more than 2,200 previously cold-stunned turtles into the open ocean of the Gulf of Mexico," the nonprofit said in a February 21, 2021, Facebook post.

While this week's balmy 70° Fahrenheit (21° Celsius) temperatures have melted the snow and ice, recovery from the vicious winter storm will take some time. Though the power has mostly been restored across the state, millions remain without running, or safe drinking, water due to damaged pipes. However, with support from the federal government — which has promised to do everything possible to help the state's hardest-hit residents and to rebuild public infrastructure — we have little doubt that the Lone Star State will recover from this natural disaster in no time.

Stay Strong, Texas!

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262 Comments
  • cutepinklover
    cutepinkloverabout 2 months
    So sad
    • pybozoby-167716762036
      so sad i wish i was there to help
      • thegretest21
        thegretest217 months
        dude so sad:(
        • noryjabodohy
          지은 이8 months
          I hope that climate change doesn’t effect any other country’s!
          • skyward_flight
            i am so grateful that someone volunteered to let someone stay at their house for five whole days.
            • ebags
              ebagsalmost 2 years
              just bu the looks of it and the videos and the articals it looks really bad but at least they got through the whole thing though.. at least they tried what they could.
            • alphadog
              alphadogalmost 2 years
              My half-sistes dad lives in Texas and he had to survive the awful winter
            • alphadog
              alphadogalmost 2 years
              Georgia is going to suffer the snowstorm this year luckily we have a gas fireplace
              • lola_1234
                lola_1234about 2 years
                I went through this snow storm in Texas and IT WAS BRUTAL. I was so cold 🥶 I sat by are fire place that, thank goodness, was a gas one, also a stove. Other people had electric stove and fireplace, or vis versa, or had no fireplace. We had running water and are tolight was working too. Like I said other people didn’t. My dad, I would do anything to repay him, was outside 24/7 knocking of snow and making sure are pipes were ok and are pool was okay. I will never forget the 68 hours of cold, wet, snow, days of this horrible snow storm.
                • skyward_flight
                  Totally know what you mean. I kept going in my bed, because it was freezing everywhere else.
                  • student82734989
                    student82734989over 1 year
                    I also went through the harsh week without power or water, and also had a fireplace. My family was very lucky. Our fireplace was also vented so the carbon monoxide could escape. Other people fainted or died because the carbon monoxide didn't have anywhere to go, and it harmed them. It was rough.
                    • student82734989
                      student82734989over 1 year
                      Not to mention the people that didn't have a fireplace and no power or running water. The streets and highways were covered in ice and so going anywhere wasn't an option most of the time. Anybody that had frozen food in their freezer or food in their fridge would've been better off putting it all outside to stay cold.
                    • angelmwa
                      angelmwaover 1 year
                      Hi, lola_1234! I have to agree. That was a rough artic storm. I am so thankful both of us are safe and well.
                    • pitcherperfect
                      pitcherperfectabout 2 years
                      I had one of my friends in Texas. She got frostbite, and her cousin passed away :(