Uri five years ago prepared Taylor for ‘Fern’ last week
East Williamson County spent the past week digging out of one of the worst ice storms in recent memory, officials said.
Winter Storm Uri five years ago provided a wake-up call for Taylor and other Central Texas cities, helping officials prepare for the onslaught of Winter Storm Fern, which saw rain turn to sleet, streets coated in ice like sheets of glass, schools and businesses closed and limited power outages, according to city officials.
Uri, which ravaged the United States and northern Mexico in February 2021, caused thousands of blackouts and 240 deaths in Texas alone. The storm also forced many communities like Taylor where winter storm conditions such as ice and snow are rare to be prepared the next time such an event took place.
Winter Storm Fern showed up last week, but officials in Taylor and Williamson County said they were ready.
Aside from 268 homes losing power, 27 road closures, three minor house fires and a few minor automobile accidents, the county was spared from loss of life or anything catastrophic, according to Williamson County officials.
“During Uri, the city provided timely communications to residents throughout the storm and its impacts. Since Uri, we’ve added additional backup generators, acquired additional four-wheel drive vehicles, and improved sanding capabilities,” said Daniel Seguin, a Taylor spokesman.
He added, “We also improved redundancy at our wastewatertreatment plant. We maintain an emergency operations team that anticipates such events and coordinates city preparedness and response. Our crews are equipped to provide emergency services during ice events.”
While Fern was not as catastrophic as Uri, it still made its presence felt. Ice was reported as much as 2 inches thick in parts of Williamson County, which forced the cancelation of two days of school at St. Mary’s Catholic School in Taylor and the Taylor, Hutto, Thrall, Granger and Coupland independent school districts.
Government offices also shut down except for essential services and local leaders delayed public meetings.
Fern blew into Central Texas early Jan. 24 and over three days brought nighttime temperatures down to a record 18 degrees in the greater Austin area, not counting the wind-chill factor, which moved the mercury into single-digit numbers, meteorologists said.
As of press time, 106 fatalities nationwide are tied to Fern’s 2,300-mile swath across multiple states, including 11 deaths in Texas but none in Williamson County.
The Texas deaths included one in Austin, three in Houston, four in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and three in North Texas. The fatalities range from hypothermia, sledding accidents or drowning in an icechoked pond.
County officials also urged residents to stay safe and off icecoated roads, at least until thawing started midday Jan. 26 and the morning of Jan. 27 with the sun’s arrival. Still, the temperatures only reached the mid-40s Jan. 27 and clumps of ice remained where sunlight couldn’t reach.
“Stay safe and warm indoors during (Winter Storm) Fern,” Williamson County Judge Steven Snell said in a video statement issued early this week from the Office of Emergency Management in Georgetown.
Both the county and Taylor emergency management teams met frequently while the latest winter gripped the county.
Fearful of the storm’s potential impact, so-called “panic buyers” cleared the shelves at retail outlets including H-E-B in Taylor as the front approached, as shown by posts on local social-media sites.
Many stores also closed early or didn’t open during the storm and its immediate aftermath.
Taylor officials said city crews kept roads as ice free as possible by applying sand to bridges.
Texas Department of Transportation crews also got out ahead of the storm to pretreat roads, state officials said.
Local nonprofits and volunteers stepped up to ensure no one suffered from exposure to the chilly weather. St. James’ Episcopal Church and its partner, the Taylor Center for Assistance and Navigation, housed 15 men at the sanctuary and paid for 26 hotel rooms for women, children, individuals with special needs and overflow from the church.
The church at 614 Davis St. has been a warming shelter since 2021.
