A winter storm in Texas over the weekend has made roads difficult to travel and put strain on the state’s power grid. As of Wednesday morning, nearly 3,500,000 customers were without power and more than 20 people have died. Some areas of the state are dealing with temperatures below freezing, with an increase not expected for a few more days. The situation has forced many glass and glazing companies to close or put projects on hold.
Tim Kelley, president of Tristar Glass, which has locations in Houston, Grand Prairie, Texas (Dallas), and Catoosa, Okla. (Tulsa), said his company has been impacted significantly.
“Both of our plants in Texas have been closed all this week,” he says. “The combination of hazardous road conditions and intermittent power outages has made it impractical for us to open. Our plant in Houston has not had power this week.”
He believes, however, that the plants will be able to reopen soon.
“We hope to have the plants in Texas open either tomorrow or Friday. That is really dependent upon the power situation,” he says. “The Tulsa, Okla., plant has partially reopened with the hope of resuming full production tomorrow.”
Chandra Stroope, business administration manager for Haley-Greer in Dallas, says several of the company’s jobs have been closed all week. Behrooz Kooshi, owner of Texas Glass Co. in Houston, says his company has been closed all week but plans to reopen tomorrow if possible. Anderson Glass in Waco, Texas, is also closed due to the storm, which has impacted most of the state.
“The safety of our employees is the most important thing,” says owner Dustin Anderson. “We are hoping to regroup tomorrow but it will depend on the condition of the roads.”
