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To the IC² community,
First and foremost, I hope that you, your loved ones, and community are safe after the dangerous storms of last week.
Across the State of Texas, we witnessed both the challenges that face rural areas as well the power of community. The devastating cold and storms brought the Texas power grid to its knees leaving many people across the state without power, heat, or water for several days. These infrastructure problems were evident in cities, suburbs, and rural towns. But, smaller communities were particularly hard-hit because of the distances between neighbors and the difficulty bringing emergency services to everyone. At the same time, communities stepped up to help each other by bringing food, water, and firewood to neighbors, by sharing space with community members, and by donations to support those who were suffering.
We hope that the regional networks that we are trying to foster at IC² will be of value both for promoting economic growth in good times, but also for sharing aid and resources in times of emergency.
As we move forward from this storm, we would love to have you share with us your stories of what went well and what did not so that we can continue to document the challenges and opportunities faced by communities across the Southwest.
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Art Markman, Director at IC² Institute
For more information about our research, programs, and engagement with and for communities, please email: info@ic2.utexas.edu.