A winter storm plaguing Texas and other southern states has already led to frozen roads, traffic deaths, power outages, frozen pipes and circumstances that most Texans and Southerners have never seen in their lives. And it’s just getting colder.
Last Thursday, there was a pileup of 133 cars in Fort Worth that took the lives of six people. There was a fire pileup on Sunday afternoon in Oklahoma City. Oklahoma. Along the Gulf of Texas coast, all counties are on a freeze alert and up to two inches of snow are expected in places like Galveston Beach.
The temperature in Dallas had already dropped to 12 degrees at around 7 pm local time on Sunday, and they were expected to continue dropping to just 7 degrees during the night with continuous snowfall.
Photo by MARK FELIX / AFP via Getty Images
On Monday, it should get even colder with a maximum temperature of 18 degrees and a minimum temperature of 3 at night – and that doesn’t even explain the thermal sensation.
In the Texas panhandle, the minimum Sunday night temperature is expected to reach minus -9 degrees in Amarillo. In the Golden Triangle, which is the southeastern part of the state near southwestern Louisiana, temperatures have already dropped below 32, and they are on a winter storm alert with snow expected to fall overnight.
In El Paso, the temperature is already below 20 degrees on Sunday night.
ERCOT, which runs the Texas power grid, said there could be continuous blackouts as they anticipate cold Arctic temperatures to put pressure on the power system.
Texas Republican Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn urged President Joe Biden to approve an emergency declaration request submitted by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who declared a state disaster for all 254 counties in Lone Star State.
Today senator @JohnCornyn & I sent a letter to President Biden asking @GovAbbottThe company’s application for a federal emergency disaster declaration must be approved in the midst of severe winter storms in the state of Texas.
– Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) February 15, 2021
“It is our understanding that the State of Texas, through the Office of the Governor, made a formal request for an emergency disaster declaration as a result of the severe winter that began on February 11, 2021 and will continue throughout the state for several days “, Cornyn and Cruz wrote in a letter to Biden.
On Sunday night, not long after Texas senators sent their letter, the White House responded.
“Today, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. declared that there is an emergency in the state of Texas and ordered federal assistance to complement state and local response efforts due to emergency conditions resulting from a severe winter storm beginning in
February 11, 2021 and continuing. “
The White House went on to say that funding measures will include mass care and shelter, and FEMA is authorized to use the equipment and resources needed to help alleviate the impacts of the winter climate emergency.
“The governor and local authorities have informed us that the severity and magnitude of the storm is beyond the responsiveness of the state and local government,” wrote Cornyn and Cruz to the president. “Prolonged freezing temperatures, tense energy capacity and treacherous roads are just a few of the current dangers facing all Texans. In the past three days, there have been 11 deaths related to accidents with deteriorating road conditions. More than 23,000 Texans have lost energy and frozen plumbing has affected water distribution across the state. “
Temperatures began to drop in Texas on Thursday, and have dropped in the past three days. The strong hail and snow started on Sunday, and are expected to get stronger during the night as the storm intensifies and moves north and east toward Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and then the others. neighboring states.