Former Manitoban enduring wild weather in Texas

A former resident of southern Manitoba admits being unprepared for the weather that struck Texas this last week.

The Lone Star State has been rocked by winter storms, dropping nearly 25 centimetres of snow in some parts and leaving millions without power. The storm has killed dozens of people, including six individuals who lost their lives in a 130 vehicle pileup along Interstate 35-W north of downtown Fort Worth last week Thursday.

James Mauldin moved from southern Manitoba to Texas back in 2006. Today he lives in Grandbury, just southwest of Dallas-Fort Worth. Though he endured many Manitoba winters while growing up, Mauldin says this change in weather caught him off guard.

"I got rid of all my winter clothes because we don't need them down here," he admits. "So, what we consider a nice fall jacket back in Manitoba, is my winter jacket here."

Mauldin adds his winter boots are a thing of the past, noting his work boots get the job done. He still has gloves and a toque and an ice scraper, which he says most Texans do not own.

According to Mauldin, this all started last week in the form of freezing rain and fog. And from there, the temperature kept dropping.

"We always expect a couple of cold February days here," says Mauldin. "You get maybe an inch of snow in some areas, there's some freezing rain, but the forecast kept dropping and dropping."

By Tuesday, the temperature had fallen to -17 degrees Celsius.

Canada geese atop a frozen Grandbury River.

Mauldin lives along the Grandbury River, a body of water that has not frozen over since 1989. Mauldin says on Wednesday the ice on that river was between three and four inches thick and he was able to walk on it.

"We have all these Canadian geese that are around there that are just kind of sitting on top of the ice," he notes.

As mentioned, the storm has left millions without power. Mauldin says thankfully he owns a wood stove to keep them warm and says he has been hosting his mother-in-law who was without power for a day and a half. He knows others who have been without power for two and a half days.

"They are just completely at a loss," he says. "People don't have backup generators or things like that."

And, Mauldin explains homes in Texas are not built the say way as homes in Manitoba.

"We're built for everything to cool down," he says. "We don't build it to keep things warm, we don't want to lock in the one hundred degree temperatures that we get."

Mauldin says they do not insulate pipes in exterior walls and for that reason, the water pipes in his house froze solid.

According to Mauldin, there is relief in sight. If you thought Manitoba had extreme temperature swings, Grandbury is supposed to go from -17 degrees Celsius on Tuesday to 23 degrees above zero by next week Wednesday.

Mauldin says people are now treating him as the local expert on cold.

"I've been getting a little bit of questions about types of things, how to stay warm and what to utilize," he says.

Mauldin suggests -20 degrees in Texas would be the equivalent to a -40 degree day in Manitoba.