An exceptionally severe winter storm in Texas left more than 2 million customers without power in the state amid dangerously low temperatures.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on Saturday that Texas “is facing a very dangerous winter storm” in the coming days that “will make the move virtually impossible”.
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He called the storm “unprecedented” in the state’s history.
HISTORICAL WINTER STORM HIT TEXAS WITH COLD ROADS AND ICE CREAMS RECORD
Rotating power outages were initiated by the Texas Electric Reliability Council, or ERCOT, on Monday morning, meaning that thousands were without power for short periods while temperatures dropped to almost 30 degrees near Dallas and 20s (about minus 5 degrees Celsius) in Houston.
Kent and Brazos counties, on opposite sides of the state, were hardest hit, with almost all customers losing power, according to an online power outage tracker.
“The electricity grid continues to lose generation,” Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner told residents in Twitter. “If you are without energy, you can be without energy all day. Please do your best to keep warm safely. Check our seniors.”
Temperatures dropped below 0 in some Texas cities on Monday. Amarillo reported a temperature of -8, while Midland reported a temperature of 0, and Lubbock reported a temperature of 1, according to WeatherWX.com.
President Biden also declared a Texas emergency in a statement late on Sunday. The statement aims to add federal aid to state and local response efforts.
More than 760 flights were canceled at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, and at Dallas Love Field most of the nearly 200 flights from Southwest Airlines, the airport’s main airline, were canceled on Sunday.
The national forecast for Monday, February 15. (Fox News)
American Airlines said about 345 of its flights were canceled at DFW airport, its hub, early Sunday afternoon. The airline said the storm was also affecting its flights in the region, with reduced and canceled operations at airports in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.
The current storm system formed on Friday night, extending across much of the Ohio Valley and the Appalachians to the Northeast. Texas issued a winter storm alert throughout the weekend and earlier in the week.
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“Maximum cold weather preparations MUST be completed today,” posted Jeff Lindner, a meteorologist for the Harris County Flood Control District, on Sunday morning. “Time is running out and conditions will deteriorate rapidly in the late afternoon and evening.”
Road safety will be a priority after Fort Worth saw a pileup last week involving more than 130 vehicles, including 18-wheel vehicles and passenger cars, which resulted in six deaths and dozens of injuries.
In El Paso, a 15-car pileup on Sunday morning served as a warning to anyone wishing to travel, but luckily no deaths were reported until Sunday, KFOX14 reported.
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Peter Aitken of Fox News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.