More than 100 million people stretching from Texas to Massachusetts are under a winter storm alert or winter weather warning, and more days of deep freezing could mean a multiplication of harrowing tales of adversity.
The intense cold that brought snow blankets and widespread power cuts in Texas and Oklahoma is expected to move east on Thursday, bringing with it half an inch of ice to parts of North Carolina and Virginia, according to the CNN Taylor Ward.
A tornado watch is in effect in parts of the Florida Panhandle, Southwest Georgia and Southeast Alabama until 8 am EST. Washington, DC will be covered in snow, sleet and freezing rain on Thursday morning, while New York is expected to see six to six inches of snow in the afternoon, Ward said.
The climate is not the typical winter cold. Some of those who have already been affected by the storms have spent days without power and water and are unlikely to see temperatures rise above zero until next week.
Texans endured the impact of the anguish.
A mother told CNN that she is thinking of driving to Mexico to keep her family safe in a hotel. With another expected freeze, she is running out of options for three of her children whose insulin is spoiling and her child on the autism spectrum who has a compromised immune system.
“Either you go to the shelter to get warm or you stay home, cold and away from the pandemic,” Sylvia Cerda Salinas told CNN’s Don Lemon newspaper.
Time becomes fatal
Continuous severe weather means more days of risk of fatalities and injuries.
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned doctors on Wednesday to be aware of the increased risk of carbon monoxide poisoning and deaths as storms sweep across the country.
Carbon monoxide is a tasteless, odorless gas that can accumulate when any type of fossil fuel is burned – gasoline, coal or natural gas. Home heating systems are a common source, but the danger is especially high when people turn to unusual sources of heat or energy during a power outage.
From Saturday to Monday, four adults in Oregon died of carbon monoxide poisoning while trying to stay warm, according to the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office. One person appears to have lit coal briquettes inside, while three others were housed in recreational vehicles.
Although Kentucky officials responded to calls related to carbon monoxide, state police reported on Wednesday that a 25-year-old was found dead on Friday due to hypothermia.
Texas has lost 16 residents due to the weather, while the rest of the toll has spread to Tennessee, Oregon, Kentucky, North Carolina, Louisiana, Ohio, Oklahoma and Arkansas.
Residents seek refuge in their cars
With almost nothing available, many families rely on their vehicles to survive the cold.
Another Texan family, in front of a house without electricity, chose to drive more than 320 kilometers through snow and ice as a shelter.
The normally two-and-a-half-hour trip turned into a five or six-hour hike, said Bryce Smith. He said the only thing that made Austin’s trip to Royce City possible is that he is from Iowa and knows how to drive in the snow.
“There are no plows here. There is no help. You go here and it is just fresh snow and ice. There is no sand down,” he said.
A long wait for the power to return
The winter storms in Kentucky caused “physical damage to the infrastructure that transmits and supplies electricity to homes” and some residents may still have no power by the end of the week, state officials said.
“We believe that we will make substantial progress by the end of this week to regain people’s power, but in some areas of eastern Kentucky it may take longer than the end of the week,” said Governor Andy Beshear, who acknowledged it was difficult news for residents.
The climate has also brought down aquatic plants in many places, including Marlin, a city in central Texas with a population of more than 5,500 residents.
Speaking of the residents’ frustration, Marlin’s city manager Cedric Davis said “They are cursing us, cursing us, saying they don’t understand, they don’t understand. We cried last night. We are giving our all. People are so inhumane. They don’t understand. I’ve never seen anything like it, “reported the Waco Tribune-Herald.
Fortunately, Texas’ energy provider, the Texas Electric Reliability Council (ERCOT), said on Wednesday that it is making progress in restoring power to the state’s electrical system and hopes that local utilities can resume rotating outages. instead of prolonged interruptions on Thursday morning.
CNN’s Melissa Alonso, Konstantin Toropin, Dave Alsup, Artemis Moshtaghian, Rebekah Riess, Jason Hanna, Steve Almasy, Ed Lavandera, Joe Sutton and Keith Allen contributed to this report.