AUSTIN, Texas — There are broken and fallen trees all over Austin, pushing families to get creative as they wait for power to be restored.

“Got our fireplace working even though it’s gas, so it doesn’t put off much heat,” said southwest Austin resident Tabitha Manning.

The fireplace is the Manning family’s only heat source. Manning said that two years ago, they survived the winter storm that left the majority of Texas without power and water for about a week.

“We learned a few lessons from that, but there was still things like, ‘oh, we should buy a generator?'” Manning said. “Of course we didn’t do it, but now we’re like, ‘we should get a generator.'”

This family has gone days without electricity.

“You’re just hearing crack, crack, thud,” Manning said about falling trees. “A couple of times it was so loud, we thought it hit our side.”

Trees went down across Austin, knocking out the power.

“This is our freezer cooler and the dry ice is just about gone,” Manning said.

She says nothing is worse than throwing away fresh groceries after 48 hours without power.

“We probably threw out a third of our freezer and probably half of our fridge already,” Manning said.

Bundling up to stay warm inside hasn’t been easy, especially with two boys to entertain.

“Soon as the power died in the Nintendos, it was interesting,” said Tabitha’s husband, Dan Manning.

Tabitha Manning says they’ve got their camping lights ready just in case. They’re just waiting for Austin Energy to make repairs.

“I know they were clearing some stuff, but I haven’t really seen anybody,” Tabitha Manning said. “I know they are out somewhere, but I haven’t seen them.”