A Morning Texas Never Imagined
When we woke up this morning, the entire neighborhood was white with snow. Ten years ago, no one could have even imagined that it would snow in Texas.
America is such a vast country that on one side there is Alaska, where the sun does not appear for months, and on the other side there is Death Valley, Arizona, where the highest temperature on Earth is recorded.
How Air Conditioning Changed Texas Forever
Until around 1950, a large part of America—especially cities in Texas—was not developed the way it is today. The reason was very simple: extreme heat. As air conditioners became common in the 1950s and 60s, the fate of cities like Dallas and Houston changed. Homes, offices, and malls with central AC came up, and almost overnight the fear of heat disappeared and the population began to grow rapidly.
When the Weather Cycle Turned Upside Down
But in the last few years, the weather cycle seems to have reversed. Now the same Texas, where people once laughed at the very idea of snow, has started experiencing snowfall occasionally. This weekend, fifteen U.S. states are under the grip of a winter storm, and Texas is on that path as well.
Read this also : Small Things That Make Long Flights Comfortable
Infrastructure Built for Heat, Not Cold
Areas like Washington DC have infrastructure designed keeping cold weather in mind, but everything in Texas was designed assuming heat. No one ever imagined that sub-zero temperatures would arrive here.
The 2021 Storm and a Fragile Power Grid
In the winter of 2021, when a similar storm hit, power went out in many places. In America, people generally cannot even imagine that electricity might go out. There is a habit of central AC and heating—home temperatures remain at 19–20 degrees in every season. But as soon as temperatures dropped below zero, homes began drawing more electricity and the grid gave up.
A Familiar Crisis Repeating Itself
This time too, the same story is being repeated. The storm is moving beyond Texas and is going to engulf a large part of the country.
Panic Buying Before the Storm
Since people are informed in advance that the storm will last seven to eight days, markets are already empty of fruits, vegetables, and toilet paper.
Extremes Within a Single State
Just think—within a single state, sometimes hurricanes, sometimes extreme heat, and now icy storms. That is when one realizes how balanced nature has made India. In most parts of India, summer, winter, and rain are all livable—none of them are extreme.
Nature’s Balance and Human Resilience
If there is something to learn from America, it is how humans find solutions even in the most extreme conditions.
India’s good fortune is the blessing of nature, and America’s strength is the indomitable will of human beings.
External Links : At least seven dead and 800,000 without power as major winter storm hits US
Nitin Tripathi is an entrepreneur, software engineer, educator, and writer with a modern yet rooted perspective on life and technology. A graduate of Kamla Nehru Institute of Technology, he is the founder of Om Solutions, where innovation meets practical problem-solving.
A passionate runner and a devoted family person, Nitin believes in balance—between work and wellness, tradition and progress.
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