Nearly 60,000 San Antonio residents are bracing for days without electricity after Friday night storms exposed the fragility of a power grid that's supposed to serve them — and that's before the 98-degree heat really sets in.

CPS Energy's interim CEO warned some outages will stretch "several days," with downed lines, broken poles, and fallen trees still blocking recovery. Meanwhile, the federal government sends billions overseas and subsidizes green energy projects — but the basic infrastructure Americans actually depend on keeps crumbling when the weather turns.

At peak, 112,000 CPS Energy customers lost power. By Saturday evening, the CPS outage map still showed 59,963 in the dark, according to Texas Public Radio. The Five Points area took the hardest hit, with 15 breakers out and roughly 24,000 customers affected — more than a third of all outages, KSAT reported.

CPS Energy Interim President and CEO Frank Almaraz didn't mince words about the timeline. "Because of extensive damage caused by wind and falling trees, we have downed lines, broken poles, and fallen trees," Almaraz said. "Some of these outages are going to extend several days, so please begin making plans now, put your emergency plan into effect."

That's easy to say from an air-conditioned office. For working families, "several days" without power means spoiled groceries, missed work, and kids stuck at home. Yesenia Cortez, cooling off at a restaurant with her three young children, told TPR she'd already thrown out everything in her refrigerator — and was now worrying about Monday. "If they don't have school, then I don't really know what I'm gonna do for work because I don't have anybody to be watching them," Cortez said.

Cleo Booker, a San Antonio resident since 2010, carried a bag of ice back to his apartment hoping to save what meat he could. He told TPR he'd never seen anything like it: "When we have heavy rain through here or heavy wind, light might go off, but it'll be right back on in about an hour or so."

The city is offering cooling centers at libraries and community centers, with VIA Metropolitan Transit providing free rides. Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones directed residents to call 311 for assistance. Resilience hubs will stay open overnight for those who need refrigeration for medication.

But the question isn't whether the city can open cooling centers after the fact. It's why the grid keeps failing the people who pay for it. CPS Energy says it has mobilized all available resources, including outside crews, and is coordinating with union leadership. That's the right response in a crisis. It doesn't answer why the crisis keeps happening.

San Antonio's working families are spending their weekend in the dark, tossing out spoiled food, and scrambling for childcare — while the people who run the grid and the government tell them to "make plans." The power will come back. The rot in the system won't.