Winter storm pulls away from Texas, millions still without power

Texas, February 18

The winter storm that crippled the Texas electrical grid is moving out of the state, but freezing temperatures remain, hampering attempts to restore full power as residents struggle. With 2.7 million Texas households still without heat Thursday morning, leaders warned of the dangers with a domino effect on infrastructure. The lack of power has cut off water supplies for millions, further strained hospitals’ ability to treat patients amid a pandemic, and isolated vulnerable communities 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.” Residents in over 100 counties in Texas have been told to boil their drinking water as treatment plants continue to suffer from energy blackouts, officials said. Upward of 12 million people in the state — the country’s second largest with a population of roughly 29 million — either have no drinking water in their homes or have drinking water available only intermittently. With freezing temperatures expected through the weekend, getting the lights back on will be a slow process, as Texas has lost 40% of its generating capacity, with natural gas wells and pipelines, along with wind turbines, frozen shut. Hospitals in Houston, the state’s largest city, and elsewhere in Texas have reported they have no water. Reuters