A man was found frozen to death in his Texas recliner, as at least 24 people died from the winter storm.
Abilene’s fire chief, Cande Flores, revealed that three people died in Abilene, Texas this week due to cold temperatures, according to KTXS.
The officer identified one of the deaths as a homeless person who died from exposure to the elements. He was almost 50 or 60 and was found outside on Monday morning.
Another man was found dead in his home after running out of power for three days. Resident Josh Casey told Facebook users that the man “froze to death in his chair” and his wife was “almost dead” next to him. She has already been taken to the hospital.
“Please go and see your neighbors,” said Mr. Casey.
The other victim found in Abilene, Flores said, had a health problem and the weather prevented her from accessing the resources they needed.
Texas fell in freezing temperatures on Sunday after a storm that brought snow to the state.
At least 24 people died in the winter storm, including a grandmother and three children who died in Sugar Land, Texas, after accidentally burning their homes in an effort to keep warm.
Millions of people suffered power outages after the power grid was overloaded with overuse due to the heating of residents. Some residents have been without power for four consecutive days and about 400,000 still suffer from blackouts, according to poweroutage.us.
The situation in Texas generated a reaction, as state Republicans and Governor Greg Abbott face criticism for decisions they have taken related to energy use and the power grid.
Texas operates on an independent power grid instead of being regulated by the federal government, which means it is unable to draw electricity from other networks when peak demands are made. Therefore, the sudden increase in current has led to millions without power and heat for long periods.
The state was the only state in the continental United States to operate on an independent network.
Abbott blamed the Texas Electric Reliability Council (ERCOT) on Tuesday for statewide power outages. He called ERCOT “anything but reliable in the past 48 hours” and issued an executive order to review the “preparations and decisions” made by the council before the winter storm.
Speaking to the Associated Press, Dan Woodfin, the senior director of ERCOT system operations, said the current winter storm was “way beyond the design parameters for a typical, if not extreme, Texas winter that you would normally plan ”
The weather is expected to improve in Texas in the next 24 hours, but officials have warned that residents can still fight food and water shortages in the coming days. A full return to power was also not foreseen in the state until temperatures rose.