Millions of Texans woke up Thursday morning still without heat, electricity or water — with the historic cold snap that crippled the power grid expected to linger for several more days.
As of early Thursday, 2.7 million Texas households were still without heat, while upward of 12 million people either have no drinking water on tap in their homes or have drinking water available only intermittently.
It has particularly devastated some hospitals, forcing people to refrain from washing their hands despite it being the most basic safety measure, especially the coronavirus pandemic.
Some communities have become completely isolated with frozen roads still impassable in parts of the state.
“This is in many ways disasters within the disaster,” said Judge Lina Hidalgo, the top elected official in Harris County, which encompasses Houston. “The cascading effects are not going to go away.”
So far, no more storm deaths appear to have been reported from the 23 announced on Wednesday.
Officials suspect many more people have died — but their bodies have not been discovered yet, according to Reuters.
While the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), a cooperative responsible for 90% of the state’s electricity, claimed “progress” in getting power back on the grid, the historic cold snap that crippled it will leave freezing temperatures for several more days, meteorologists warn.
View Slideshow
Source: Read Full Article
