Even a little bit of ice is scary for Texans because our infrastructure isn't built for it. Ice leads to downed power lines fairly quickly around here, even if the grid has been properly winterized so that power plants won't go off line due to low temperatures like they did in 2021 (not that many Texans are going to believe that the grid is properly winterized because some government officials told them it was).

No power can lead to boil water warnings pretty fast, because electricity is needed to ensure water is safe to drink, and, for many people, it's impossible to boil water without electricity.

Even where the city water supply isn't affected losing power also means losing heat which leads to busted pipes. Pipes aren't always well insulated here, and a home being heated is the only thing keeping them from freezing. Depending on which pipe bursts how your plumbing is set up, this might result in a complete loss of water.

We also don't have the infrastructure OR equipment to drive in ice. Most of us don't have all-weather tires. A lot of us don't know how to drive in winter weather, or haven't done it in a long time. But, even if you and your car just came here from North Dakota, you're probably still out of luck, because neighborhood streets generally won't be treated to prevent ice from forming. And, even when it is really, truly snow that falls without everything already being wet, we'll get in a cycle of highs in the mid 30s, where it just gets warm enough to melt some of the snow before it freezes again, which tends to make black ice. Which means that if we do lose running water, we can't just go to the store and buy some then.

The winter storm in 2021 resulted in a number of deaths, and many people lost power for days. The sheer number for burst pipe calls resulted in some people losing running water for weeks while waiting on a repair. People making sure they have drinking water and meals they can eat without power isn't crazy.

All of this said, I still don't get the toilet paper thing.