Plano, Texas – More than 3.5 million homes and businesses are Without power in Texas, where some of the coldest temperatures in decades have hit the state. A second winter storm is moving on Tuesday night, with more snow and ice.
The storm poured snow and ice, wiping out energy in dozens of states, and is blamed for at least 17 deaths, including a grandmother and three children who died in a fire in a house trying to stay warm in Sugar Land, Texas.
National Guard troops and thousands of state soldiers are checking families struggling to keep warm. In parts of Texas and Oklahoma, temperatures have not been as low as 100 years ago – causing the pipes to freeze and explode.
The storm also forced COVID-19 Vaccination sites are closing and have caused delays in sending new doses across the country. Texas Governor Greg Abbott called the storm “the winter version of Hurricane Harvey”. State officials asked people to retain power, if they had it.
In Houston, two others died of carbon monoxide poisoning while trying to keep warm in the car. There was outrage after some skyscrapers were still lit, while downtown Dallas got dark Monday night.
LM Otero / AP
In Oklahoma City, the temperature dropped to minus 14 on Tuesday morning – the coldest temperature there since 1899. And in Galveston, coroners ordered a refrigerated truck after reports of several cold weather-related deaths.
Fort Worth residents were forced to boil their own water after a water treatment plant was closed.
Jamie Blanton struggled to cook and recharge his appliances every time the lights went on. “We probably had a total of maybe 2.5 hours of power. And all that time since Sunday,” she said.
The situation is so bad that Terra Davis is leaving the state after she, her husband and an 8-month-old baby had to snuggle around the fireplace to keep warm. They were without power for 30 hours.
“It was minus 2 degrees last night,” said Davis. “We had our daughter wrapped up in as many pieces of clothing as we could, but we were too scared.”
Texas is the only state in the continental United States that has its own power grid. It is not regulated by the federal government and residents are furious that it failed.
“I understand that people are furious that this happened … we will reactivate the energy,” said CEO Bill Magness of ERCOT, the energy utility that supplies Texas.
David J. Phillip / AP
The same storm created a powerful tornado in a coastal region of North Carolina which destroyed houses and killed three people and wounded ten others. The powerful tornado ripped houses from their foundations, broke trees and knocked over power cables.
Ellen Acconcia and Bill Callahan faced the storm in their laundry before discovering their neighbor trapped under the rubble. He died later. “I was able to talk to him … All he could say was basically that he was hurt all over and was in a lot of pain,” said Callahan.
North Carolina was one of 15 states hit by the same massive storm system. Tornadoes also hit Georgia and Florida.
Officials said the tornado developed so quickly that people didn’t know it was coming. Many were in bed and had no chance to protect themselves. Acconcia and Callahan said they received an emergency alert after he had already reached his home.
Jessi Mitchell contributed to this report.