WACO, Texas — When the arctic blast took over the state of Texas in February, many were left with no water, broken pipes and a lot of damage.
Chris Strauch with Bukowski Bros Plumbing told 25 News that kept them busy, but he hopes to help prevent it from happening again with some recommended precautions.
"Start by disconnecting your hoses," he said. "Water is going to freeze because it's going to get cold and it's going to bust your hose or what it's connected to and inevitably that causes problems."
He recommends letting a small stream of water run through your faucet to prevent it from freezing. Also to open cabinet doors to let air flow and wrap your pipes to keep them warm.
"You wrap yourself up when you go outside when it's cold to protect yourself from the cold," Strauch said. "You need to do the same with your pipes."
Energy experts say many people have already started to prepare their homes to keep everything warm and safe if there is another freeze.
"A lot of people have bought generators that would provide some backup electricity or at least for a period of time, additional insulation, replacing windows that leak," Energy Attorney Chrysta Castaneda said.
Plumbers hope all of these precautions will prevent a repeat of last year. Strauch said they struggled to help customers quickly because of limited parts that everyone needed and those shortages are expected to be even worse this year due to the pandemic.
