North American Winter Storm 2021

7/15/2021 (Permalink)

The year 2021 started out with a bang! Winter Storm Uri was an unforgettable and unimaginable event that impacted over 170 million Americans. Winter Storm Uri was an ice storm that came over from the Pacific Northwest and covered most of the southern United States and even dipped as far as Northern Mexico, from February 13, 2021 through February 17, 2021. However, the after affects of what was left behind lasted through the end of April 2021.

Temperatures plummeted to an all-time low of -20F in parts of the Arkansas and over 2 feet of snow in most places across the country. As a result of the powerful winter ice storm, power grids were unable to keep up and as a result, failed across the entire state of Texas. Over 4.2 million people across the state of Texas were left without power. People were not able to heat their homes nor were they able to heat water. Water was not available across most of the affected areas because power companies and water treatment plants had water line breaks. Busted pipes caused significant damage to homes and businesses across the country.

SERVPRO was contacted with over 41,000 leads and dispatched over 1250 crews from across the country to help assist residents of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Missouri, Kansas and Arkansas. This event of this magnitude had not ever been seen in SERVPRO history! This was by far, the largest storm event in the history of SERVPRO! When SERVPRO arrived they quickly got to work! Crews went into homes and businesses and got any standing water up and placed our specialized drying equipment in to speed up the drying process. By getting there quickly, saved insurance companies thousands of dollars!

Ice Storm Preparedness

By being proactive, you can protect yourself, family, friends, neighbors and your employees.

• Stay weather-ready. Winter storm watches and warnings are given out in advance to give time to prepare.
• Protect your family, pets and animals. Provide a safe place so that everyone is protected from wind, snow, ice and rain.
• Learn how to protect pipes from freezing
• Make sure your home or business is will insulated that include, attics, crawlspaces and window seals.
• If you have a wood burning stove or fire place, keep an extra supply of firewood
• Keep supply of warming blankets, water resistant clothing, batteries, flashlights, nonperishables and weather radio for updates
• In case of an evacuation or emergency, keep vehicles full of fuel, tires inspected in good condition, and fluids are checked and in working order.
• Winter equipment such as shovels, blowers and kitty litter to make driveways or walk ways much easier to walk on.

Although this was by far, the largest storm event in SERVPRO’S history, our crews are ready and available 24-hours a day, 7 days a week. Should your home or business suffer from any storm event such as ice, snow, tornado, flood or hurricane, contact the pro’s at SERVPRO! We’ll make it “Like it never even happened.”

For more information on how to protect your loved ones, visit the American Red Cross, ready.gov and NOAA Weather Radio