Here's this morning's video I did on Winter EmergencyTips for Texans .

-Blast

No Blast, no HAM License, justa VHF-FM License. We no longer carry HF Radios onboard since cell phone coverage has gotten to a lesser level many years ago.

UPDATE:
This hotel is filling up fast! I think it’s mostly locals and some marine petro/chem workers. We just extended our reservations through to Friday.

If needed, we will go to a store tomorrow and get a few more microwavable rations.
I’m due to be picked up Wednesday. If the Houston airports remain closed, we will have to jump to Winnie, Tx and get a hotel room so that the crew van can grab me on their way to the boat. The crew change van will be running from NOLA to the boat’s location.

I am curious: how likely is such an cold weather event, historically? Is it something that people would reasonably include in their preparations?

Everything that's not impossible is inevitable. People really need to keep that in mind. Way down south is doesn't do this often but as seen this week, it happens occasionally. There's no reason not to have some preparations for this even if it's just a couple of sleeping bags, a down comforter or extra blankets. In Bozeman we're usually under 80 in the summer and it doesn't get below zero all that often in the winter, or at least now for long periods. But we had triple digits last summer and it occasionally gets down to -35 F in the winter, so it's good to be prepared for both.

A NEW SITUATION and a NEW Plan:
SITREP:
We are in the Rolling Blackout so there is no power in this hotel: no working elevators, no hot coffee, no way to heat food except with hand warmers.

The boat is in Port Arthur, Tx, heading East, and missing a rudder.

Our crew change will be somewhere between Intracoastal City and Morgan City, La.

FUTURE PLAN:
Lug everything in the hotel down to the ground floor, load the truck and go home to Lafayette.

Make the crew change tomorrow morning.

Our friends outside Austin, TX lost power/landline. Imagine that either solar/batt backup or a generator are in their not too distant future. Heating water on gas stove for horses.

The last time it got this cold in Texas was for about 24 hours in the mid-80's. It's just not something people think will happen and so spending money to prep for something that happens every 40 years seems silly. People that camp or take hurricane preps seriously here are generally doing okay but once you're away from the coast, even prepping for hurricanes seems silly to most people. There's a lot of whining and finger-pointing going on. Some justified, some not.
-Blast

I was wondering about your reliance on the hotel microwave...
-Blast

Hopefully full power will be restored soon! Best of luck to all the folks down there in the affected area.