SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio community won’t soon forget the winter storm in February 2021 that shut down the area for days. Still, it helped many become better prepared for severe weather after days of uncertainty.
Jose Mesquiti said he hopes he never has to endure anything like that again.
“It was cold, and we had no electricity, which was, like, miserable,” he remembers.
He said he learned his lesson and purchased a generator after that storm.
Rachel Morales said it was a moment that changed people.
“It actually really was an awakening. I’m just going to say for everybody because we didn’t -- I’ve never been through anything like that,” she said.
It was an awakening moment for Texas leaders, too. Utility providers implemented a series of changes to improve the chances of avoiding power outages in future severe weather events.
San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said the winter storm forced everyone to improve communications and re-evaluate severe weather plans. He pointed to the updates to critical infrastructures that will keep them running during an outage as an example of the progress.
Nirenberg says the work on improving community services continues, including updating policies that deal with warming centers and shelters following the most recent cold weather event.
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LOOK BACK: It’s been 2 years since Texas’ devastating winter storm of February 2021