WACO, Texas — During the arctic blast of 2021 that killed 250 people and left many Texans without power for days, the Salvation Army was one of the few places in Central Texas with power.
They provided dozens of people with a place to sleep every night along with hot meals, and their emergency shelter and church were open to help anyone in need.
Major Jim Taylor is the commanding officer and remembers being at their church.
“I was there 24/7," Taylor said.
"I slept there at nighttime and I was there to prepare meals because we couldn’t get food back and forth, so we used what little food we had at the church, and I made meals for the people staying at the church breakfast, lunch and dinner.”
He says they are ready to do it all again if another arctic blast sweeps across the state.
"What's interesting is, most of our staff that was here three years ago is still with us, and so we kind of developed a routine during that last event that we can repeat if need be," Taylor said.
"We keep enough food in our cooler and freezer to get us through several days — probably an entire week, so if we needed to do that again, the Salvation Army would be able to meet the need.”
Just last week, Gov. Greg Abbott announced a new energy expansion aimed at preparing the state for weather emergencies.
The latest expansion will add 425 megawatts of power to the Texas grid, as well as adding 300 new jobs to Freestone County.
According to the governor, this new accessible power is in addition to 7,000 megawatts of power expected to come online next year.
"This Freestone Energy Center expansion will ensure that reliable power is available in Texas no matter the weather" said Gov. Abbott in a press release from last week.
According to ERCOT, one megawatt of electricity can power about 200 Texas homes during periods of peak demand.
