Winter Storm Uri, the Great Texas Freeze, ran February 11 to 20, 2021 and was the coldest winter storm for Texas since December 1989. It burst water pipes and brought boil water advisories to many Texas counties, and its lessons still apply to Burleson homes.
Key takeaways
- The February 2021 freeze burst pipes across Texas, a regional event with no local outage numbers on record.
- The city has mild winters with occasional ice events, so a hard freeze is rare but not unthinkable.
- Knowing where the main shutoff is saves the most damage at the start of a burst pipe.
- A burst pipe floods rooms and can soak the ceiling below, so the whole path of the water needs drying.
- Thaw leaks often appear hours after the cold breaks, so checking walls and ceilings during the thaw is wise.
What the February 2021 freeze showed
Winter Storm Uri ran February 11 to 20, 2021, and it was the coldest winter storm for Texas since December 1989. The February 2021 freeze burst water pipes and brought boil water advisories to many Texas counties.
The numbers apply to the whole state. No local outage count is cited, so the event is best treated as a regional lesson, not a local scoreboard.
For Burleson homeowners, the practical point is simple: a deep freeze can put pressure on pipes that were never meant to see it. The city sits in Johnson County and Tarrant County, where winters are mild.
Local weather: mild winters, occasional ice
The city has hot summers that regularly exceed 100 degrees, mild winters with occasional ice events and a spring severe thunderstorm season. That mix means the cold is easy to forget until it arrives.
Because the freeze risk is occasional, knowing the plan matters more than owning special equipment.
- Mild winters make freeze habits easy to forget.
- Occasional ice events can arrive with little time to prepare.
- Pipes in garages, attics and exterior walls are the usual weak points.
- Spring storms are a different risk, but they remind homeowners to check ceilings.
The newer wood-frame home and a burst pipe
The city is a fast-growing suburb. The 2020 census counted 17,545 housing units, and the city includes communities such as Oak Valley Estates, a 158-home community dating to 1990, and Plantation, with homes built from 2007 to 2018.
Most of these are wood-frame houses. When a pipe bursts inside a wall, water follows the studs, soaks drywall and runs into the floor or the ceiling below.
A two-story home can send the water through the ceiling into a lower room within the same event. Both levels need extraction and drying.
What a burst pipe looks like
A split pipe may spray, drip behind a wall or run steadily inside a cavity. Stains, bubbling paint, a musty smell or the sound of running water are warning signs.
What spreads the damage
Time and path matter. The longer the water runs, the more drywall, insulation and flooring it reaches.
First steps when a pipe bursts
The most useful action is to stop the water. Everything else comes after.
The City of Burleson runs a Water, Sewer and Garbage Utility, so questions about city water service go there, while the pipe inside the house is the owner's job to stop and repair.
- Locate and close the main water shutoff.
- Turn off power to wet areas if it is safe to reach the panel.
- Move belongings away from the wet zone.
- Photograph the damage and the source.
- Contact a burst pipe water damage crew for extraction and drying.
Thawing and the second round of leaks
A freeze often does not show its worst damage until the thaw. Ice can sit inside a cracked pipe like a plug, and the leak starts only when the ice melts.
That is why the hours after the cold breaks are the time to check ceilings, wall bottoms and cabinets. A frozen pipe water damage loss can look like a minor stain at first and still involve wet insulation and drywall.
A leak that shows up after the thaw is still a burst pipe loss, and the same extraction and drying steps apply. The earlier the source is found, the fewer rooms the water reaches.
- Check the attic and garage first, since they get coldest.
- Look under sinks on exterior walls.
- Watch ceilings for stains and sagging.
- Listen for running water after the thaw.
Drying a burst pipe loss
Once the water is stopped and extracted, the structure still holds moisture. Walls, subfloors and ceilings below need structural drying with moisture meters.
Dehumidifiers and air movers run until readings show the framing and drywall are dry. Wet insulation and swollen drywall are usually removed so the cavity can dry fully.
In a house with two floors, the drying team checks the ceiling below and the walls above the break, not just the room where the pipe split.
Fast drying also limits mold growth in damp materials, which is the main reason delay is costly.
Burst pipes in rentals and shared walls
About 28.5 percent of occupied homes here are renter-occupied, and apartment communities cluster along the SH 174 and I-35W corridors. A burst pipe in one unit can reach the unit below or the one next door.
Shared walls mean drying has to cross the wall, so the drying team may place equipment in more than one unit. Fast reporting keeps a one-unit problem from becoming a building problem.
Other local water damage services cover homes and apartments across the city.
- Tell the landlord or property manager right away, in writing.
- Take photos before anything is moved.
- Shut off the unit's water if a valve is reachable.
- Ask neighbors below to check ceilings and walls.
Preparing for the next freeze
A little planning goes a long way, even in a city with mild winters.
If water has already escaped, the water damage cost calculator helps frame what a loss might involve.
- Know where the main shutoff is and make sure it turns.
- Insulate exposed pipes in garages and attics.
- Open cabinet doors on exterior walls during a hard freeze.
- Let faucets drip when a freeze is forecast.
- Keep the house heated if it will be empty.
Questions
Was Winter Storm Uri the same as a normal Texas cold snap?
No. The February 2021 storm ran February 11 to 20 and was the coldest winter storm for Texas since December 1989, burst pipes in many counties and led to boil water advisories.
Does Burleson have cold winters?
The city has mild winters with occasional ice events, so a hard freeze is not common, but it can happen.
Where do burst pipes cause the most damage in a house?
Wherever the water runs longest. A pipe inside a wall or attic can soak drywall, insulation and the ceiling below before anyone notices.
When should a thaw be checked for leaks?
As soon as the temperature rises. Cracked pipes can start leaking when ice melts, so ceilings, walls and cabinets deserve a look during the thaw.