Published 12:28 IST, February 19th 2021
Texas: Power restored to most after winter storm sent temperatures plunging
Texas: The top elected official in Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said that the number of homes without power in her county had now come to 33,000.
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The top elected official in Harris County, which also includes Houston, Judge Lina Hidalgo, during a live update on weather said that the number of homes without power in her county had now come to 33,000 from 1.4 million. She further said that it is a ‘big positive’ that the power has now been restored for most of the people. “It's been a miserable few days, a really tragic few days”, said Hidalgo, referring to the Texas storms.
Live Update On Winter Weather: February 18th https://t.co/bzxQCUzkZG
— Office of Judge Lina Hidalgo (@HarrisCoJudge) February 18, 2021
Current situation in Texas
She further warned that a ‘hard freeze’ on Thursday night could lead to setbacks. There have been reports of senior centers and other vulnerable communities lacking basic supplies. Also, the storms left more than 450,000 from West Virginia to Louisiana without power and 100,000 in Oregon also suffered. The storm also affected people in the Appalachians, northern Maryland and southern Pennsylvania, and later the Northeast.
A winter storm dropping snow and ice, which has also sent temperatures plunging has hit Texas. The deadly storm has crashed power supplies and people are battling the low temperatures with no heat and electricity. Officials in Houston had warned people to prepare for outages and hazardous roads. Earlier, this week, nearly 120 crashes, including a 10-car pileup on I-45, were reported.
According to the reports by AP, Texas Governor Greg Abbott warned that state residents “are not out of the woods”. Temperatures are still well below freezing statewide. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said that the residents will probably have to boil tap water in the city. Nearly 260,000 homes and businesses in Tennessee's largest county, including Memphis, were asked to boil water after there were problems at the pumping stations.
On Sunday night, US President Joe Biden declared an emergency in Texas and ordered federal assistance to aid state and local response efforts. The declaration allows the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide assistance, equipment and resources to the affected. As per the reports by AP, officials have been discouraging travel in the wintry conditions. Oklahoma Highway Patrol said a portion of the Turner Turnpike was shut down due to a multi-vehicle accident.
(Image Credits: AP)
12:31 IST, February 19th 2021