Nearly 3 million homes and businesses still had no power in Texas on Wednesday morning, following this week’s big winter storm, even though the second one was threatening a wide-ranging stream from the US. And after some of the coldest temperatures in decades hit the Lone Star State, a new problem is emerging: water restrictions due to pipe bursts and lack of electricity at treatment plants.
Galveston, Texas, was under phase 5 water restrictions early Wednesday after major water supply broke due to lack of power, KPRC-TV reported. Fort Worth residents were forced to boil their own water after a water treatment plant closed. Abilene also had water problems.
And Sugar Land, Texas, tweeted a plea for water conservation, saying, “We need your help! Sugar Land’s water systems see emergency pressure levels in several areas. Limit your water use to health and safety needs.”
The national weather service tweeted updates overnight:
The weather service predicts’ another major winter storm for the South Central Plains to the Mid-Atlantic to Friday ” with snowfall of 4 centimeters plus from Oklahoma to the Mid-Atlantic Ocean and a potential centimeter of 8 centimeters in Pennsylvania, no also calls ‘significant freezing rain’ likely from Texas to Tennessee and North Carolina to Virginia.
The first storm knocked down snow and ice, shutting down power in dozens of states, and blaming at least 17 deaths, including a grandmother and three children who died in a house fire for trying to stay warm in Sugar Land. .
Ashley Landis / AP
In Houston, two others died of carbon monoxide poisoning while trying to stay warm in their car. There was outrage after some skyscrapers were still lit, while downtown Dallas went dark Monday night.
Texas is the only state in the US that has its own power grid. It is not regulated by the federal government and residents are angry because it failed.
“I understand that people are angry because it happened … Let’s turn on the power again,” said Bill Magness, CEO of ERCOT, the power provider that supplies Texas.
National Guard troops and thousands of state troops visited families struggling to stay warm. In parts of Texas and Oklahoma, the temperature was not so low in 100 years, causing pipes to freeze and then explode.
The storm also forced COVID-19 to close vaccination sites and has caused delays in sending new doses across the country. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called the storm “the winter version of Hurricane Harvey.” Government officials have asked people to retain power – if they have it.
In Oklahoma City, temperatures dropped to minus 14 on Tuesday morning – the coldest temperature there since 1899. And in Galveston, medical investigators requested a refrigerated truck after reports of several deaths related to cold weather.
The same storm has a powerful tornado in a coastal region of North Carolina which demolished houses and killed three people and injured 10 others. North Carolina was one of 15 states that suffered from the same massive storm system. Tornadoes also hit Georgia and Florida.
Brian Dakss and Jessi Mitchell contributed to this report.