In the midst of a winter storm in the United States, millions in Texas remained without power on Tuesday amid sub-zero temperatures, with officials warning of treacherous travel conditions in many states. It was confirmed that at least two people died of cold.
The huge winter storm that immobilized the southern plains was heading eastward from the Great Lakes and New England, where heavy snow and freezing rain were expected on Tuesday, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.
The storm left record cold temperatures behind with cold wind warnings from the US-Canada border to the US-Mexico border in the middle of the country. As bad news for millions of people without power, more snow and ice was forecast on Tuesday and Wednesday along a front that runs from Texas to the Appalachian States.
The worst disruptions occurred in Texas, affecting more than 4 million homes and businesses. More than 250,000 people lost energy in parts of Appalachia and another quarter of a million went without electricity after an ice storm in northwest Oregon.
“We are experiencing a truly historic event happening now,” said Jason Furtado, professor of meteorology at the University of Oklahoma.
Texans were fighting. In Austin, Matthew Micik was out of power for 24 hours, the temperature in his home below 35F (1.6C). After finding a hotel room in the vicinity of San Marcos, he told the Guardian, he drove through the ice and hail only to find that most of the city had also lost power. He spent the night in his car.
From Galveston, Jessica Knofla said “only a few fast food restaurants are open temporarily and the lines are a mile long. They all had to close because they ran out of food. Basically, everyone who lives here has not been warned and is stranded on an island in the dark, with no big stores open and no lights on the road. It’s absolutely annoying and I’m fucking pissed. “
At the southernmost point in Texas, Brownsville, on the border with Mexico, the temperature dropped below 30F (-1C). People were in houses not built to retain heat, a problem across the state.
Many had no water because of the frozen or broken pipe. Kelsey Muñoz, an intensive care nurse in Dallas, said: “Currently, I have power and I hope I am not cursing myself for saying this. However, to get water, I had to collect snow and melt it. I never thought I would have to do that in Texas. ”
The blackouts forced a county in Texas to struggle to place more than 8,000 doses of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine in people’s arms. The Harris County public health unit lost power between 1 am and 2 am on Monday and its backup generator also failed, said Rafael Lemaitre, spokesman for Harris County judge Lina Hidalgo.
Looking for large groups of people in places where they would not need to drive and with the right medical staff on hand, the authorities distributed the doses to three hospitals, Rice University and the county prison. Hidalgo, the top elected official in Houston, said he did not believe that any vaccines had been lost.
Conditions also delayed delivery of new vaccine shipments. State officials said Texas, which was due to receive more than 400,000 doses of vaccines this week, did not expect deliveries until at least Wednesday.
Authorities in several states have reported deaths from accidents on icy roads. Among the deaths in Texas, a woman and a girl died on suspicion of carbon monoxide poisoning in Houston, in a house without electricity from a car in a garage, police said. Police said temperatures are probably responsible for the deaths of two men along the roads in the Houston area.
The frustration increased with the power outages that were not supposed to be resolved by the end of Tuesday, at the very least. The state’s overloaded power grid imposed blackouts that are normally only seen in summers of 100F (38C).
“Things are likely to get worse before they get better,” said Hidalgo.
Southwest Power Pool, a group of utilities in 14 states, called for ongoing interruptions because the backup power supply had run out. Some utilities said they are starting blackouts, while others are asking customers to reduce energy use. State officials said the increase in demand was driven by people who tried to keep the houses warm and that the cold weather brought down the power plants.
The elderly and the homeless were the most vulnerable. Each major city has implemented “emergency alert centers”, but it was unclear how they could follow Covid’s security protocols. More than 500 people were in a shelter in Houston, but the mayor, Sylvester Turner, said other heating centers had to be closed because they ran out of power.
The VIA (San Antonio Transport Authority) suspended the service, but it appointed supervisors to look for homeless people who needed a ride to one of several heating centers.
Alex Fleming, a pastor, volunteered at San Antonio’s First Baptist Church, which is serving as an emergency alert center. The capacity is 45 people. On Monday night, he said, they housed a total of 26 people.
“I think we would be at the limit, because every day it kept growing. Many places are overcrowded, ”said Fleming. “The only problem is that you can’t take many. You have to send people away sometimes. “