Art

[Vern Humphrey]

In addition to which, wind turbines kill thousands of birds, including Bald Eagles.

[oscars]

US Fish and Wildlife estimates that wind blades kill 140-500, 000 birds per year. However, free ranging domestic cats kill 4-6 billion birds and 18 billion small animals per year.

[Art]

US Fish and Wildlife estimates that wind blades kill 140-500, 000 birds per year. However, free ranging domestic cats kill 4-6 billion birds and 18 billion small animals per year.

The number of birds killed by feral cats is a SWAG proven by the extreme range in the numbers. I don't dispute the number is extremely high but anyone who estimates how high is doing just that....estimating. On the other hand, you can walk under wind turbines and count the casualties.

That 140,000 to 500,000 birds per annum is on top of what domestic cats kill, not in place of. Wind Turbines are especially hard on raptors which led the government to give them a special dispensation when it came to killing hawks, vultures, owls and especially eagles. The number of dead birds will go up as wind turbine numbers increase. Personally I think off shore is the best place for them but this is an area in which I don't have a vote.

The majority of the small mammals killed by cats are pest rodents, rats and mice. They do nail the occasional rabbit or squirrel. The reason we originally domesticated them is their pest control function.

[Art]

Ok, its officially over for us with the expiration of the boil water order at about 5:00 p.m. today so after 8 days minus a few hours:

We expended about 2 gallons of reserve fuel, all of the water in the 5 gallon contractor cooler we fill for these emergencies plus about half a flat of bottled water and a few cans of reserve food. Other than that we used the stuff in our fridge and freezer. We will probably have to replace some shrubs which is no big deal. All in all from that point of view less for us than the hardship of a medium hurricane.

Every time we find something else we can use. We don't think much about winter storm emergencies. Because of this one we'll buy an electric space heater that we may never use but better safe than sorry.

We were pretty fortunate on he electric end, some people were without power for three plus days during the worst of it.

[Griff Murphey]

We had one burst pipe under the house in a copper water line. We had no water from Wednesday night to Friday morning. My week was a solid washout at my office.
Incidentally all these pundits saying how great El Paso did because it was on the national grid are ignoring the fact that El Paso had highs in the 40’s and 50’s while the rest of the state was freezing.

[Art]

We had one burst pipe under the house in a copper water line. We had no water from Wednesday night to Friday morning. My week was a solid washout at my office.
Incidentally all these pundits saying how great El Paso did because it was on the national grid are ignoring the fact that El Paso had highs in the 40’s and 50’s while the rest of the state was freezing.

A strip of Southeast Texas is on the national grid too and towns and cities there like Beaumont and Silsbee were in the same rough shape as Houston and San Antonio, including extensive power outages and boil water notices.