When the storm hit last weekend, Sean Kitchen’s home in Garland went dark. His power had been out for more than 36 hours when he and his wife decided to hole up at his brother’s house in Richardson, hoping to wait out the freeze.
The storm started last weekend with snow and plummeting temperatures. Rolling power outages meant to last up to 45 minutes ended up spanning several hours. As the chill set in, many residents had to leave their homes, trying to find available spaces in hotels, warming centers and shelters.
Each day, Kitchen, 32, drove back home to check on the place. On Wednesday, he returned and found water pooling on his kitchen floor. A frozen pipe had busted beneath the sink. By the time he got the valve off, the damage was already done: the wooden floor was warped, and water had flooded into his backyard.