Scholars will be writing for decades about the catastrophic failures that underpinned and magnified the impact of the recent winter storm in Texas. The intertwining crises and the scale of human suffering will require exhaustive research across multiple disciplines. Not Even Past will be producing specialized content over the coming weeks related to the storm but for now we’ve started to collect images sent in by members of the UT community.
These images are not intended to document the full extent of the storm and the resultant suffering but rather to contribute to the first draft of history. Some of the images have captions supplied by the photographers, others do not. If you would like to contribute images please click here. Together we believe these images provide a powerful representation of the extraordinary sequence of days in which life in Texas ground to a halt. Please note that this is an evolving resource and we will continue to add to it as we receive images. We do not edit images or captions and the names of the contributors can be found at the bottom of the page. We thank all our contributors for their willingness to share their experience.
I finally returned home on Monday 2/22, greeted by a burst pipe and no available plumbers. 
A trash can frozen shut 
We started saving water when our pressure dropped to a trickle, right before we lost it on Wednesday 2/17. 
Abandoned car on icy roads 
Cleared-out produce section at Target 
Truck that brought water to my entire apartment complex (mostly Brown and Black residents). Basically, this local community member’s father-in-law donated the water and he distributed the water to folks who were bringing bins, buckets, and all types of containers to fill. 
Warming up in the car, which served as our heater/charger/breakfast spot, on the fourth morning without power 
Snow and ice a blew in through a vent in the attic soaking the insulation and eventually the ceiling below 
Our sudden 70-degree thaw meant that residents of my apartment complex were about to run out of dripping ice to collect as drinking water. People used every container they had. 
Screenshot of “Winter Storm Warning” and single-digit temperature on morning of 2/16/21 
Walking in the neighborhood, all the cars surrounded by snow. 
Regina Carpinelli, founder and producer of Los Angeles Comic Con and Chris Petroff, a hair colorist in Los Angeles, organized donations to buy and deliver water and food supplies to Austin Mutual Aid. 
Water damage 
The view from our apartment window one day into the Winter Storm. 
Testing the “ice” after the snow in the backyard froze over with a new coating of freezing rain 
Day 1 of the snowstorm 
On February 13th, we went for a walk with our dog and realized that some plants had exploded in the cold. These frost flowers occur when the ground is still warm enough for a plant’s roots to still be absorbing water, but the air freezes it, causing the plant to burst in beautiful patterns. 
… we made makeshift heat packs by wrapping cotton napkins around rice. We microwaved them, wrapped them in towels inside an insulated cooler, and then walked them over to our 80 year old neighbor who still didn’t have power or heat so she could stay warm. 
I tried to photograph the branches I’d crammed into my duffel bag to start a fire, but the flash only works so well in conditions of total darkness. 
Myself, bundled up and underneath every blanket I owned. This is the face of exhaustion and disbelief, since I’m not sure when the electricity will come back or how this happened. For the first time ever in Texas, my face suffered from wind burn 
My redfoot tortoise, Snappy, hiding in a sock. He’s been hiding in my jacket, sharing my body warmth for the third day in a row. His heat lamps malfunctioned, causing his house to fall from the toasty 76 degrees to 35 degrees. For many, the lower temperatures are a matter of life and death — even for a resilient reptile like Snappy. 
One of the “warmer” days in the house without electricity. One of the days the house reached 30 degrees, which made 44 degrees tolerable. With enough candles, I was able to bring the temperature up to a toasty 56 degrees 
On Wednesday, February 17th, some of the snow began to melt. But that evening, the temperature dropped again, coating the trees in front of my Hyde Park apartment in a cast of ice. 
The most beautiful icicles I have ever seen made me grateful for every day of having electricity. They were also a sad reminder of the inadequate insulation of our house and the energy wasted on regulating its temperature. 
Bench and deck after first heavy snow 
My 15 month old collie, Ciara, after 2d heavy snowfall. She walked across the deck and sat down in the snow, seeming to enjoy it. 
Icicles that formed from snowfall and icy precipitation and started melting after 4 days of freezing temperatures 
The crawlspace of our 1893 pier and beam house is open to the elements on one side, and with it our water pipes–which never froze due to this staple-gun creation. Proud and grateful. 
Our resident fox undeterred from the storm 
broken tree limbs 
Icicles on the porch 
They look like beautiful flowering trees, right? All ice.
Images from Ilan Palacios Avineri, Tiana Wilson, Maria Aina (Aina) Ongcheap, Kathleen Conti, Daina Ramey Berry, Ulrike Unterweger, Raymond Hyser, Madeline Hsu, Haley Price, Judy Coffin, Lance Wittlif, Adam Clulow, Jon Buchleiter, John Gleb, Rebecca Johnston, Jeff Zhao, Janine Barchas and others. Our thanks to all those who submitted images.
