Ice Storm — Orange, Texas

1997-01-12 to 1997-01-14 · Orange, Texas

Wider weather episode

A record ice storm paralyzed southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana. Around 90,000 electric customers across southeast Texas were without power for up to six days. Emergency shelters were opended for several nights due to the cold weather following the ice storm. More trees and power lines were knocked down in this ice storm than what came down during Hurricane Bonnie in 1986. Hundreds of homes received minor damage due to trees or tree limbs falling on roofs. Several house fires were directly or indirectly related to the ice storm, but fortunately there were only no injuries. Numerous traffic accidents attributed to icy roads led to several minor injuries. One death was indirectly attributed to the ice storm. Two men were electrocuted on Tuesday, January 21st, while doing cleanup work for a local electric company. One 48 year old man died, and a 19 year old man was seriously injured in the accident.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5589155. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.