Texas government is ready for extreme weather that's moving into the state on Tuesday, Governor Greg Abbott says, but this weather will be nothing like the deadly cold winter storm of four years ago.
Gov. Abbott says the Texas Department of Transportation has been readying state roads for icy conditions, has trucks standing by for emergencies, and the Department of Public Safety (DPS) has extra patrols on the roads to keep them safe.
At a news conference on Monday, the governor was joined by Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd, who reminded Texans that on the back of their drivers licenses is an emergency phone number that goes directly to DPS. It's a roadside assistance number and will come in handy for anyone who ends up stranded on the road.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Pablo Vegas, said there should be plenty of electricity available during this cold weather event, and one of the main reasons is because of procedures implemented over the past three years which include "weatherization."
"Just this year we've done over three hundred inspections of supply resources, power generators, more than 150 in our transmission service space, and we're gonna continue to do more and finish up this winter," Vegas said.
"As always, if you experience an electrical outage it is local in nature. Please contact your transmission utility supplier," your retail electricity provider, which can be found at PUC.texas.gov/storm -- which is our weather research page," Public Utility Commission of Texas Chair Thomas Gleeson