Southwest Austin Dripping Springs Edition | February 2023

REGIONAL IMPACT

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Two years after the deadly Winter Storm Uri, freezing temperatures and rain in early February led to power outages and other storm-related dangers.

Karl Flocke, a Texas A&M Forest Service woodland ecologist, answered common questions about trees in light of Winter Storm Mara.

Winter Storm Uri Feb. 13-17, 2021

Winter Storm Mara Jan. 31-Feb. 3, 2023

Type of impact

Wildre season

Calls placed to 311

68,835*

105,977**

Trac crashes

286+

700+

Deaths

TBD

Days of class canceled for Austin and Dripping Springs ISD Percentage of Austin Energy customers who lost power

>30%

40%

SOURCES: AUSTIN ENERGY, AUSTIN ISD, CITY OF AUSTIN COMMUNITY IMPACT

*JAN. 30FEB. 14, 2023 **ALL OF FEBRUARY 2021

The concern is not so much extra downed limbs in heavily wooded areas because storms are part of nature, but brush needs to be cleaned up around homes so it is not an additional danger to people. DEEDA LOVETTCOMMUNITY IMPACT

Cleaning up On Feb. 3, Austin, Dripping Springs, Hays and Travis Counties declared local disasters, which opens access to state and federal resources. Most cleanup is expected to wrap up in February, but some work could stretch into April, according to the Austin Resource Recovery depart- ment. Residents can place trees and branches on the curb for pickup. The Millers did not lose power, which was their biggest fear during the storm, just two years after statewide power failures during Winter Storm Uri. How- ever, they have received conicting information on what the city will do to help with the tree, which is so big one employee said it would take a crane to move. However, they are thankful the tree did not cause more damage. “If it had fallen on the house, it might have killed us,” Lee Miller said. “It certainly would have destroyed the house.” Amanda Cutshall contributed to this reporting.

5, ocials said “nearly all” outages would be xed by Feb. 12. The storm and its aftermath raised questions about AE’s communica- tions system in emergencies, includ- ing direct customer notications and the capacity of its virtual outage map. Following a Feb. 7 brieng, Austin City Council further questioned AE on Feb. 21, after press time, about its storm response. Mayor Kirk Watson and other leaders have also called for AE’s internal after-action report to be released quickly. Sunset Valley resident Michelle Roberts said after the deadly winter storm in February 2021, she should have planned better, but she thought this storm would be dierent. “Everyone kept saying the grid would hold this time, so I wasn’t that worried,” Roberts said. “Well, then my power went out at 3 a.m. on [Feb. 1] morning and didn’t come back on until [Feb. 2] afternoon.” Like Roberts, many are wondering why the city was hit so hard by the disaster just two years after 28 people died in Travis County; all of Austin was under a weeklong boil-water notice; and 40% of AE customers lost power. District 10 Council Member Alison Alter said many issues tracked during this year’s storm mirror problems with the city residents may have seen during Winter Storm Uri two years ago and last year’s citywide boil-water incident. The city of Austin released after-ac- tion reports following those events, highlighting aws with communica- tion and disaster management. Later, it issued a report saying Austin’s weather-related shelters were mis- managed, potentially leading to resi- dents suering. “There’s so many places where we heard these challenges; we talked about them; they were raised,” Alter said. “We have got to gure out how we learn the lessons.”

Oak wilt

AMANDA CUTSHALLCOMMUNITY IMPACT The damage from the storm is not vulnerable to oak wilt, a potentially fatal disease for trees, because of how cold it was when the storm happened. However, residents should take care to seal any cuts made during cleanup.

Tree vulnerability

Flocke said droughts, storms and other conditions that aect trees are cumulative, meaning trees are more vulnerable after events. Residents should take extra precautions to have trees inspected and maintained.

DARCY SPRAGUECOMMUNITY IMPACT

For more information, visit communityimpact.com .

SOURCE: TEXAS A&M FOREST SERVICECOMMUNITY IMPACT

COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE Austin and Dripping Springs residents have options for debris pickup and drop-o as well as assistance for those unable to do the work themselves.

Scan the QR code for more information.

From left:Deacon Mark Bennett of St. Ignatius Martyr Catholic Church and Juan Vaszquez clean up a tree that fell from the church yard into the neighbor’s fence near South Congress Avenue.

SOURCES: CITY OF AUSTIN, TRAVIS COUNTY COMMUNITY IMPACT

DARCY SPRAGUECOMMUNITY IMPACT

SOUTHWEST AUSTIN DRIPPING SPRINGS EDITION • FEBRUARY 2023