HOUSTON – Randy Calazans is currently one of the hottest products in Texas. He’s a plumber.
The winter weather nightmare swept through the state last week cut off power and heat to millions of homes never designed for icy temperatures. Up and down the state, people were driven from their homes, or returned to find them badly damaged, by pipes and valves and tanks that froze and burst.
So when the snow began to thaw and the sun made a coveted return, plumbers were suddenly like roofers after a hurricane: everyone seemed to need one.
At One Call Plumbing, the plumbing industry where Mr. Calazans work, employees answered the phones incessantly in a small office with expansive maps of Houston on the walls. The owner, Edgar Connery, said he had been in the industry for almost 40 years and that he had never seen such a crush on other natural disasters. Some other companies have been so flooded that they no longer answer the phone at all.
Mr. Calazans returned Thursday to work in the field and go from one customer’s home to another, primarily to increase the damage. Simple problems he fixes on the spot if he can. But some houses will need great work, and it will even be necessary to move all over again; it should remain for the weeks ahead.
Acquiring the materials to do even simple work is a growing problem, said Mr. Calazans said: Waiting in line at a house can tie him up for hours, but when he tried to pick up a few things at Home Depot, the shelves were bare.
“I literally just burn through stock,” he said.
With power largely restored and temperatures returning to the more seasonal 60s and 70s, Texans Sunday continued to grapple with the state’s ongoing water crisis. Some reservoirs in the state have refilled after draining almost all of the burst water pipes, leaking pipes and taps that ran to turn off.
Austin was still under a boiling water knowledge because pressure gradually built up in his water system to normal, which was knocked out by the power outages. Austin Water said in a statement Sunday that once the pressure is restored, the water must be tested before it can be considered safe, which could take several days.
Houston recovered pressure on its system by Sunday morning and lifted its boiling water notice that afternoon.
The full extent of the damage left by the cold is still emerging, but the state already knows it urgently needs more plumbers. Government Greg Abbott’s office said the state will grant provisional licenses to plumbers outside the state and will waive fees and certain other requirements for plumbers with expired licenses who want to renew them.
Mr. Calazans, 35, stressed the importance of having repairs done by a qualified professional, even in the aftermath of a disaster. He remembers with horror some of the dodgy, non-fiction books he has come across over the years.
“You do not just want someone to do plumbing work,” he said.
He has more experience with harsh winter weather than many Texans. He and his wife moved from Long Island to the Houston area last June, looking for greater opportunities than they saw in the gated suburbs of New York.
But Mr. Calazans did not escape damage of his own in Texas: A waterline broke in his garage, flooding the space and damaging his gym equipment.
When he arrived at Jared Coyle’s home in the Cinco Ranch area of Houston at about 12 a.m. Friday, debris and insulation were sitting in a compact pile next to the garage. Pipes burst into the house, damaging several areas, including his daughter’s room and the laundry room.
For mr. Coyle called Mr. Calazans represent salvation. The plumber, who visited the house for the first time on Thursday, returned with more supplies in hand to complete the repairs.
“These houses were not built here for the cold, and things were not prepared for the extreme cold,” said Mr. Coyle, who moved to Houston about 17 years ago, said. “There’s just so much you can do before you just say, ‘This is what it is, we’re just about what’s happening and we’ll continue. “That’s all you can do. ”
After major storm systems hit Texas, most of the damage was usually concentrated in urban areas like Houston and Dallas, according to Chris Pilcic, a spokesman for State Farm Insurance in Texas. But this time, he said, it’s everywhere.
As of Friday, State Farm has received about 18,900 property claims from customers in Texas, most of which are related to frozen and broken water pipes, he said.
“With this, we hear from customers across the state,” he said. Pilcic said. “There is not one area that has not been affected.”
And it’s not just Texas: there have been more than 2,100 claims coming from Louisiana, and he still has hundreds of other states on the road to the storm like Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee.
Lisa Gochman, another Houston resident on Friday’s list of Mr. Calazans, said the portable electric lanterns she bought for the hurricane season came in handy when the power went out in her two-bedroom apartment last week, that is, until a water leak collapsed. part of the ceiling in her guest room, so that the bed is completely covered with rubbish.
“It’s a mess,” she said. “It’s unlivable.”
According to her, there were also leaks in her bathroom and kitchen and the apartment had no power or water. Therefore, she sought refuge on the couch, hoping to eventually move to a hotel or short-term rental.
“I’m trying to do it just as well,” she said. Gochman, who has lived in the apartment for nearly 11 years, said. “I cried a few times.”
Before reaching One Call Plumbing, she said the first availability she could find online for a plumber was on April 22nd.
After being told by me. Gochman’s closet climbed up to look at the attic, Mr. Calazans said it was possible there were more leaks, but he would not be able to see until her water was turned on again. It would be necessary to pipe the whole place again, at about $ 10,000.
Me. Gochman said she expects such a figure, but is not sure how much her insurance would cover.
“It’s not even getting my place right,” she said. Gochman said. ‘I still have to do carpet, fix the wall. That’s probably going to be $ 20,000 to $ 30,000 in total. ”
Mr. Calazans said it is not uncommon to come to a job that expects to tackle a small problem, but only to discover that much more is wrong. This is what happened at one house in the Bellaire section on Friday afternoon: one cracked pipe exposed another, and then more leaks in a pipe in a plaster column. He could not get it all done in one visit; he will have to come back another day.
He said he expects life to be like this for him for weeks to come: one long 10-hour workday after another, filled with repairs in addition to repairs.
“This is the nature of the business,” he said.
Lucy Tompkins contribution made.