AUSTIN, Texas — At a press conference with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday, state leaders said the power grid is in good shape and road conditions are getting better after a historic ice storm, but we are not out of the woods yet.
The governor spoke at the Alternate State Operations Center in Austin and was joined by representatives from various state agencies.
On Thursday, Austin and other parts of Texas experienced what the governor described as one of the most significant ice events in decades. On Friday, wintry precipitation is not expected to continue in the Austin area, but frigid temperatures will persist.
The question on everyone's mind ahead of and during this storm has been whether the state's power grid can handle this storm. On Thursday, 70,000 Texans were without power. On Friday after the peak power demand was hit, 20,000 people across Texas do not have power. Those power outages are due to local providers having issues with wind and ice on their power lines.
Leaders say the Texas power grid has enough power, but they expect a higher load Friday night and on Saturday. Watch Friday's press conference below:
On Friday at 9 p.m., the expected peak demand is 62,500 MW, with an available generation of 76,000 MW. On Saturday, the expected peak demand is at 8 a.m. with 64,000 MW, with an available generation of 81,216 MW.
State leaders are stressing that although conditions look better, we are not out of the woods yet. Crews with the Texas Department of Transportation are still clearing crashes caused by dangerous road conditions, and there are still many spots that are icy.
Three people died in crashes on icy roads and 49 were injured across Texas. One trooper was injured.
Abbott also placed emphasis that there is more than 10,000 MW of expected excess power from the grid, which he said equates to powering nearly 2 million homes.
Temperatures will stay below freezing through at least Friday morning in the Austin area. The current forecast calls for temperatures above freezing along and east of Interstate 35 with a high of 34 degrees expected in Austin Friday. It's possible that some portions of Central Texas, especially in the Hill Country, will stay below freezing even through Friday afternoon and into Saturday morning.
Icy road conditions could continue as late as Saturday for some areas. Everyone is advised to stay indoors and off the roads through Friday if at all possible. Click here for the latest weather updates.
Watch the governor's Thursday press conference below:
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