Historic Ice Storm Unites Stranded Delivery Driver, Austin Couple

AUSTIN, TX — What started like an ordinary weekend workday for Chelsea Timmons turned into an unforgettable six-day journey — all thanks to the kindness of an Austin couple who went from strangers to being like family in the midst of last week’s historic ice storm.

Timmons, who lives in Houston and works as a school teacher, makes extra money delivering groceries on weekends. But what was supposed to be her final run on Valentine’s Day soon became a run Timmons soon won’t forget.

Timmons wrote in a now-viral Facebook post that she planned to accept her last delivery assignment of the day at 11 a.m. But when icy conditions stretched the normal delivery time into one that took more than an hour, Timmons found her Toyota Rav4 traversing down an icy hill en route to what was to be her delivery destination.

Timmons wrote that she began pumping the brakes in an attempt to slowly make her way down the hill. But when her SUV kept picking up speed on the ice, she panicked and hit her brakes, causing her SUV to find its way into a tree in the yard of Austin residents Doug Condon and Nina Richardson.

Although her car was undamaged after hitting the tree, the amount of ice kept Timmons from being able to move her car. Attempts by her and Condon to free her vehicle were unsuccessful. Timmons wrote in the Facebook post that she called a tow truck company and was told her wait would be two hours. Condon and Richardson invited her in. Hours passed, and Timmons wrote that she was informed impassable roads would make it impossible for a tow truck to reach her.

Timmons considered calling a ride-sharing service to get her to a nearby hotel for the night. But she realized if a tow truck couldn’t reach her, neither would a car service. Richardson told The Washington Post that the couple made the decision to invite Timmons to stay the night.

Richardson, 62, and Condon, 58, are empty-nesters who have five grown children. They told The Post that they recently received the coronavirus vaccine and felt safe allowing Timmons to stay with them.

“It just seemed like the natural thing to do considering the situation,” Richardson told the newspaper. “We didn’t even need to talk it over.”

Timmons, whose original Valentine’s Day plans called for her to return home, drink wine and eat chocolate, wrote in the Facebook post that has been shared more than 5,000 times that she found herself enjoying dinner in the company of strangers who became friends over the five days.

“These people let a complete STRANGER stay the night!,” Timmons wrote in the Facebook post. “Not only that but cooked me a STEAK DINNER! definitely not how I imagined my Valentine’s Day!”

One night turned into two, and the extended stay continued. Each morning, Timmons wrote that she would go to the couple and offer to get to a nearby hotel to wait for the weather to improve. Each time she did, they would ask if she reach the hotel safely, what she would do for food once she arrived and what she would do if the hotel lost power.

Timmons said she eventually realized she wasn't going anywhere.

"How AMAZINGLY BLESSED am I right in this moment?!" Timmons wrote on Facebook.

Unlike many of their Austin neighbors, Condon and Richardson never lost power and were able to maintain their water service even as the crippling storm caused numerous problems around the city and Texas.

“We were lucky — our lights stayed on and we were warm,” Condon told the Post. “And as we got to know each other over dinner, any awkwardness disappeared.”

Timmons told the Post she wasn’t sure what to initially make of the couple’s generosity, calling her situation “the trailer for every blockbuster horror flick.”

But over time, the three once-strangers became close as they waited out the storm together. Finally, on Friday, Timmons posted a photo on her Facebook page with her seated in her car and the sun shining. The caption included two words: “Headed home!!”

The couple’s generosity isn’t lost on Timmons.

“I just couldn’t get over it — they never saw me as a burden, not even for a second,” she told the Post.

By the time she left after five days, Timmons had become like a member of the couple’s family. Timmons said that she plans to remain in touch with Condon and Richardson after the ordeal, telling the Post, “How could I not? I know their address.”

The mutual friendship goes both ways.

“We just became friends,” Richardson told the newspaper. “She’s a wonderful, sweet young woman. We couldn’t imagine sending her out in the dark on dangerous roads.”