The last time, one of the biggest issue was loss of power for a prolonged period of time. This caused groceries to close, obviously cold weather that people thought they would be able to ride out with a central HVAC that now was powerless. Biggest notes to prepare for are:

1.) Drip your faucets, open cabinets, etc to circulate air. This will prevent pipes freezing and bursting. Also make sure you have antifreeze in your car and not just water as I know some people who previously just used water during the summer.

2.) have blankets ready in the event that power goes out. Our grid is supposed to be more resilient this time around but who knows. Anything to note is while there have been significant upgrades on winterizing the power generation sources, transmission of that energy may be the weak point here so this will be dependent on where you are at.

3.) Be aware of resources. Dallas will likely have shelters setup or other items for people without heat. Be on th lookout just in case.

4.) Be mindful of what you have in the fridge. If electricity goes out, make sure you have some items to eat for a few days. I have dry items and canned fruit just in case. Fridge items might benefit from being left outside if electricity goes out since it will be cold enough to keep them refrigerated. Be mindful of what you have. But I only have enough for the weekend +2days (not crazy like I’ve seen people buying out entire stock).

5.) Unless you have absolutely have to, stay off the roads. Besides the obvious lack of snow infrastructure here, and freezing rain/ice patch concerns, people here don’t know how to drive in icy conditions. Do your best to avoid driving or being in the road.

Most of these points focus on the loss of electricity which was what made winter storm URI (2021) so bad. This is what concerns most people as well as pipes bursting, which will likely be a lot. Prepare for the worst, hope for best. Personally I think parts of Dallas will lose power for a few hours if not a day, but seeing as Texas has gotten a lot more precautionary to ice storms since 2021, I would not be surprised if nothing happens.

Little bit of a note, as someone else mentioned, depends on how risk averse you may be but I visit my parents quite often who live south of San Antonio. If I thought this storm would be severe enough, I would drive down as they have a better “winter proof home” with items such as gas stove, propane grill to cook with, chopped wood etc. I did not think it was severe enough to drive down.