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| Texas State Capital in Austin |
The ravages of this latest bout with the snow and the cold has been most felt in the state of Texas, where every county in the country's largest state by terms of size was put under various winter storm warnings. It has led to most residents having to spend considerable time in the dark without electricity or have clean water, put local power authorities on blast for its lack of access to the national power grid, and placed its most prominent Senator in the firing line for bolting away on a vacation to Mexico.
But whenever the white stuff comes down from the skies, it no doubt has seen the kid of us come out of our shell to enjoy the sights, sounds and smell of it, despite this taking place a year out from when things got out of control. And that gave reason for two now-departed players from MTV's The Challenge: Double Agents and someone else who calls their town home to take advantage of this Snowmageddon out in the outdoors: one in the epicenter of the storm; the other in the big city to the east.
While Dallas and Houston outweigh it in terms of media market rankings and the list of largest cities in Texas by population along with the appeal of the San Antonio Alamo, Austin takes on the status of it being the governmental center of the state of Texas. The home to what would've been the first major pop culture happening of the new year in the SXSW Festival, the Live Music Capital of the World has been deeply affected by the pandemic, though the impending arrivals of Oracle and Austin FC in MLS will help in its economic rebuilding.
But when the storm & its polar vortex hit Austin, it practically shut down the city: temperatures there, Dallas and San Antonio dipped below that of Anchorage, Alaska setting record lows in the process. Not only did several inches of snow fall on the Silicon Hills, but the power supply more than exceeded demand leading to most of its residents spending the last few days without power. And most especially, the city's water service buckled in residents being asked to boil their tap water prior to consumption.
Outside of L.A., Hawaii or Miami, a tradition for so many during the winter have been of braving the cold and even the snow to go for a swim in the ocean, the lake or pond at a local park, or even at the local pool. This is most especially the case on New Year's Day when so many people ring in the first morning of the new year going for a trip into the water for what is popularly known as the "Polar Plunge." And that was an idea that Nelson and Joe had when his apartment was one of the hundreds of thousands in the Central Texas area to have to deal with the bare essentials.
Back on Challenge Wednesday, Nelly went live on his Instagram as he and the America's Got Talent star decided to head down to the local pool as the ladder decided to take it all off down to just his boxers to take for a dip. And if what happened with him swinging and missing in that infamous elimination was something, wait until you see what happens below...
🥶 🥶 🥶
The pandemic what has shut down most air travel hasn't stopped Steezy from offering his followers some hilarious videos, and this past week he made a few hours' hop to New York City where, by chance, Uri also would dump snow on the Big Apple. The many local parks in our country's largest metropolis that often see sights like this in the wintertime have been venues for some snowball fights that have brought us some giggles to the social timelines. And here, the prankster is right in the middle of it... all part of what has been an odd week in the rather wacky world of the weather.
- I AM DC
#DCBLOG
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