Washington state beauty queen from Tri-Cities stuck in a historic Texas snowstorm
Tressia Nowlin wasn’t expecting to be hunting for food when she flew to San Antonio a week ago to compete in a pageant.
The 32-year-old Richland native arrived in the Texas city on Feb. 11 to represent Washington state in the United States of America’s Ms. Pageant.
Before they could returned home Monday, a savage winter storm pounded the state, leaving dozens of contestants stranded.
“We had over 100 women that were stuck here,” she told the Tri-City Herald on Thursday. “Everyone was delayed until Thursday and then Thursday turned into Saturday and Saturday turned into Sunday.”
Now facing mounting expenses, Nowlin and others are asking for help from their hometowns until they can escape the severe weather that’s held them captive for nearly a week.
The United States of America Pageants has created a GoFundMe campaign aimed at helping the women cover their mounting expenses.
San Antonio, much like the rest of the state, has been struck with historic storms that knocked out power, shut down roads, canceled flights and cut water supplies.
Snow was continuing to fall in the city Thursday. And forecasters predicted that there could be another 3 inches by the end of the day.
The videos from the area show what would be considered a mild snowstorm for the Tri-Cities, but without snowplows or deicers, it has left streets and highways dangerously icy.
“There’s no Ubers running,” Nowlin said. “We thought we could drive to another airport, but people are ending up in ditches or stuck in the ice.”
While Nowlin and the other women still have power and heat in their hotels, running water has stopped.
“We got the last case of water, it was $15,” she said. “Every place is running out of water. We have Cheetos from going to 7-Eleven. Nothing is left on the shelves. Things go really fast when people are scared.”
The storms also have stranded 19 soccer players from the Tri-Cities and Spokane areas. They have been stuck in the Austin area after they weren’t able to leave on Saturday.
Draining experience
The nearest restaurant to Nowlin’s hotel ran out of food a couple days ago, and now she and her boyfriend have needed to set out on foot to find something to eat in recent days.
Nowlin, who has a 5-year-old son at home waiting for her return, said the experience has been emotionally and physically draining but it’s made her grateful for basic things in life.
“I was crying and I had to call my mom,” she admitted. “You do feel helpless.”
For now, her flight is scheduled to leave on Saturday. She is hoping the warmer temperatures predicted for this weekend hold so her flight isn’t canceled again.
While Nowlin was able to change hotels, many of the contestants are still in the Grand Hyatt, which is not offering any discounts or ways to help with sanitation, according to pageant officials, who are trying to raise $40,000 to help the 70 to 80 who are stuck.
This story was originally published February 18, 2021 at 5:21 PM.