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Texas Governor Greg Abbott has given an update on the state’s readiness for this weekend’s winter storm. According to Abbott, the top two-thirds of the state are expected to be hit the hardest.
The governor was joined by Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd, Texas Department of Public Safety Colonel Freeman Martin, Adjutant General of Texas Major General Thomas Suelzer, Texas Department of Transportation Executive Director Marc Williams, Electric Reliability Council of Texas CEO Pablo Vegas, Public Utility Commission Chair Thomas Gleeson, and other state officials and emergency management personnel.
During the press conference, Abbott signed an emergency declaration covering 134 different Texas counties across the state in an effort to speed up preparedness and response times.
Abbott also issued a warning to all Texans: “Get prepared now. Don’t begin getting prepared late tomorrow or think you can get around to doing it on Saturday. It’s gonna be too late.”
The good news is, according to details shared during the press conference, it doesn’t appear that Texas will be facing any mass shortages of power. Abbott said: “The ERCOT grid has never been stronger, never been more prepared, and is fully capable of handling this winter storm.”
The governor did, however, warn that there could be localized outages as a result of damaged lines or poles, but he said providers are already staging to respond to those issues.
ERCOT has placed the state under a “Weather Watch” that begins on Saturday and ends on Tuesday.