[Hardware] East Texas customers head to hardware stores for freeze prevention

[FazzNoth]

HAWKINS, Texas (KLTV) - With the threat of a hard freeze looming, some East Texans are headed to area hardware stores to get anything that will help them be prepared.

East Texas hardware stores have been very busy over the last 2 days, from customers looking for generators, pipe insulation, flashlights, batteries, on an on.

“Woo man. They’re collecting heat lamps, heat tape, pipe insulation, and kind of insulation really,” said Hawkins Ace hardeware owner Paul Stevens.

And generators are a hot item.

“Now they have been flying out of here the last couple of days,” Stevens says.

People even getting what they can to protect plants.

“We don’t have any frost cloth, because they’re sold out everywhere. So that’s what we’re using the contractor bags for,” said one Longview customer.

With the memory of ‘Snowmaggedon’ in their minds from last February, being prepared for a power loss or water pipes freezing is a priority.

“Everybody’s coming in to get their pipe covers, to make sure they don’t bust with the freeze,” said Brett James with ‘Hardin Ace hardware’ in Longview.

A new invention called a ‘Freeze Miser’ could save people thousands of dollars in water pipe repairs.

“You put it on your faucet outside, and turn your valve on. When the temperature gets down to 37 degrees, it starts letting out a regulated drip,” Stevens says.

Most just hope we don’t have a february repeat.

To avoid having your pipes freeze, it’s suggested that you turn your water off at the main and drain the lines. Or leave a faucet running at a trickle so water is continuously moving.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/east-texas-customers-head-to-hardware-stores-for-freeze-prevention/ar-AATptmZ?ocid=BingNewsSearch