As if we weren’t already in the midst of a pandemic, unprecedented times, and the hopes and eagerness that 2021 would bear promises of normalcy, life as we once experienced, then along comes the relentless, unforgiving mother nature creating a statewide panic. The prolonged blast of blistering temperatures, snow and ice, power outages, food & gas shortages, busted pipes, and so on, quickly earned the name of #SNOVID2021. While the struggle of #SNOVID2021 was real and we were truly unprepared for what slammed through Texas, the true greatness of Forney “The city without limits” would come together in unity to be the salt and light of the darkness.
On February 16, Mayor Mary Penn issued an urgent Call to Action requesting that any local churches, schools, and public places with heat and running water and the desire to serve open their doors as a refuge for those in need. And just in “no limits” fashion, it didn’t take long for c|Life and First Baptist Church of Forney to open doors providing shelter, warmth, and charging stations to keep people connected with their loved ones. Local small businesses joined the call despite their own COVID19 induced financial struggles. Mr. Jims Pizza, Doe Bellys, Raising Canes, Taco Casa and Smoothie King all stepped up to feed our community. The storm would prove to be catastrophic. Our people were hurting, senior living facilities damaged, many elderly relocated miles away, businesses with total losses, grocery stores out of food, food trucks that couldn’t get in, and gas stations with no fuel or propane.
Donald Durham, Managing Partner of Sonic in Forney, TX recalled that countless customers thanked him for opening up his establishment, knowing what a risky choice he made. “Families just wanted a hot meal to feed their children, in a time when they couldn’t provide it themselves,” he said. For perspective, on an average day, this small business produces approximately 600 tickets at an average price of $6.50 each, but during the storm the average ticket price doubled to $13 and drive thru sales were record breaking, beating last year’s numbers by $2000 per day.
James Reed heard the outcries of people needing firewood just to keep warm through the outages. He rallied a team including his son and friends to start cutting and splitting wood. He gathered up all the wood around his restaurant and loaded it too. They worked all day to chop wood, busting the wood splitter and welding it back together so they could keep going. In the end, they were able to provide those in need with over 700 sticks of wood to keep families warm.
While volunteering at the local church, Mayor Mary Penn remembered that as her own family was struggling without power, spotty signals, and lack of internet connection, she was touched and humbled by so many situations worse than her own. As she stood there serving out warm blankets and praying with families, she connected with a family of 3 who had driven over 20 miles on the treacherous roads from Elmo, Tx. after his daughter in Austin, Tx learned of the opened refuge in Forney. The family was without power and water for 3 days already, and there was no local place to seek shelter from the storm. While his wife scrambled to the bathroom to sponge off and wash her hair, the gentleman shared his heartbreaking story of sleeping in his car, being so cold, and thinking he was going to die. “I have never seen anyone so defeated, empty and grateful, all at the same time. That man has a story to tell, on the day that this miracle happened,” said
Mayor Penn. The tremendous outpouring of love didn’t stop there, many Forney area residents banned together turning a community Facebook group called “We Are ForneyTM” into a centralized hub of servitude and help for those in need. Members flocked to this group to offer their civic services such free firewood, warmth and hot showers to those without power or running water, hot, homecooked meals, buying and delivering milk and formula to babies and families without, free towing and pull outs from ditches, and rides to reunite families who otherwise would have been snowed apart. Grocery stores and other businesses also utilized this group page to notify the community of modified hours of operation, details of goods and services available, and city leaders extended their official platforms to quickly spread the latest news and important safety reminders.
Krystal Lyles shared a post thanking Kelly Basham for letting her use her electricity to prepare a hot meal for her family.
Nautica Rozelle took to social media to thank someone for pushing her car out of the ice at McDonalds. She and her sister were stuck and had no clue what to do.
Councilman James Traylor drove around town looking for water and listening for alarms. He sprung into action when he noticed pipes busted at Brainiac’s Learning Academy and Skinsense Medical Spa, first contacting the fire department and then utilizing the “We Are ForneyTM” Facebook group to notify the business owners.
Essential workers put in countless hours around the clock sacrificing their own well-being to keep our community safe, secure, and warm. Their rescue missions were many, call volumes were spiked, and it was easy to spot them pulling people from ditches, taking care of the elderly, transporting the wheelchair bound, sanding, salting, and scraping the roads to mitigate threats of danger. For what seemed like forever as mother nature hovered over the Forney skies, these heroes had to be away from their families during the darkness, the cold, and scary times, so they could keep our entire community afloat.
Constable Jason Johnson of Precinct #2 shared, “The goal of my team is community policing, being involved and proactively executing safety measures in immediate conditions. We accomplished exactly that during this storm.” In preparation for the drastic weather onset, his team equipped with all wheel drive vehicles immediately answered the call for eyes open in search of anyone in distress. Temperatures quickly dropped, snow and ice set in, many community ponds began to freeze, and back to back 911 calls rolled in. Many reported children attempting to walk across bodies of water that would not hold them. Constable Johnson issued an emergency message across his team’s official Facebook page and shared in local community groups warning residents of the tragedy that could occur from these dangerous actions. He issued his own Call to Action to all drivers on roadways requesting they look out for people on ponds, call 911 immediately, and keep an eye on them until first responders arrived. “Thankfully, because of our proactive strategies and community engagement, we didn’t have to answer one rescue call where someone had fallen through the ice.”
And yet more acts of complete selflessness during the tumultuous freeze seemed to surface and show the heart of this great city. Richard Villa, owner of Abuelitos Street Tacos and Jesse Jimenez, owner of Rio Lerma formed their own union to honor our first responders. After almost a week of first responders battling the brutality of this winter storm, these small business owners teamed up to surprise them with street tacos and tamales for lunch and fajitas with chips and salsa for dinner as the perfect TGIF gift of love.
To our city leaders, Mayor Mary Penn, Kaufman County Constables Precinct 2, Fire Chief and Rescue team, Forney City Police Department, Forney Public Works, and their families, Thank you for your sacrifice. While the Texas power grid may be one to question, the people of our small city are without a doubt the radiant strongholds proven to withstand the greatest of storms. Ladies and gentlemen here’s to the end of #SNOVID2021!
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