At least eleven deaths have been linked to a dangerous winter storm system that is breaking records across the country. About four million homes and businesses in Texas were left without power on Tuesday, as the electrical system struggled to meet demand, according to poweroutage.us.
Among the dead were a woman and a girl who were in an attached garage in Houston, where a car was running because the lack of power meant there was no heating in the house, reports CBS affiliate there, KHOU-TV. Authorities said they suffered carbon monoxide poisoning. The same happened with a man and a boy from the same family, who were hospitalized. There was no word on his condition.
In Fort Worth, two people were in critical condition and one was in serious condition from what was believed to be carbon monoxide poisoning, reports CBS Dallas. A child was also among the losers, but was said to be in good condition.
Also in Texas, a 78-year-old man died after falling on the front lawn and being trapped in the cold for two hours.
A tornado generated by the same storm system tore southeastern North Carolina on Tuesday, killing at least three.
Two people lost their lives in Tennessee, two in Kentucky and one in Louisiana, officials said.
Abilene, Texas, tweeted that “she cut off the water as a result of power cuts at both power sources at all three (city) water treatment plants.” It was not known when the service would be restored.
The record cold wave turned Texas into a tundra. Storms fell in southern Texas, covering Galveston’s beaches in white. The Galveston city manager warned that damage to infrastructure caused by extreme temperatures could rival the cost of a hurricane.
AP Photo / David J. Phillip
Frozen roads left an 18-wheeler out of control near Austin. A man nearly lost his life, jumping out of the way seconds before a car lost control and hit a police vehicle.
“Ultra-low temperatures will last for several days, which means that whatever is frozen will remain frozen for a long period of time,” said Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
He tweeted that the National Guard was “deployed across the state to help move vulnerable Texans to warm shelters”.
The historic storm also caused problems across the country.
Firefighters in Vermont rescued a young man from icy waters after he fell on the ice. Tennessee’s roads turned into ice rinks after frozen precipitation fell. In Little Rock, Arkansas, cars stopped on a slippery road, arresting nurses who had just left their shift.
The temperature in parts of Oklahoma fell below 20 degrees for five days in a row for the third time. With another storm approaching, the teams worked to clear the snow as quickly as they could.
In Louisiana, the cold caused a transformer to explode, sending a fireball through power lines.
The agency that oversees the Texas power grid has declared its highest emergency level in more than a decade.
Power outages also complicate the fight against the pandemic. After a medical facility that stored vaccines in Houston lost power, medical authorities struggled to use them before they broke down.
Sue Ogrocki / AP
– additional reporting by Brian Dakss