The South is plagued by a rare winter storm, leaving millions in Texas without power Monday, while officials scramble to respond to snow and low temperatures in states that usually do not handle any of them.
A large portion of the U.S. – more than 150 million people in 25 states – faces a winter storm warning, winter weather advice or ice storm warning, according to the National Weather Service and USA Today.
The storms and low temperatures extend further south than usual, with single-digit temperatures recorded south of San Antonio, according to The Associated Press.
Southern states have dealt with widespread power outages, while Texas has seen the most with more than 2.8 million homes losing electricity as temperatures drop, according to poweroutage.us.
The Texas Electric Reliability Council (ERCOT) switched to rotating outages Monday morning and cut off power to thousands of homes at a time to address the huge demand.
“Every network operator and every electrical company is currently fighting to recover power,” Bill Magness, President and CEO of ERCOT, said in a statement.
The weather disrupted 400,000 COVID-19 vaccines expected in the state this week, delaying their arrival until at least Wednesday, the Texas Department of Health Services told the AP.
The trip was also affected as officials warned drivers to stay off roads due to several weather-related accidents in at least Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Kentucky. According to FlightAware, more than 3,000 flights were delayed, with more than 1,700 involving Dallas Fort Worth International and Bush Intercontinental Airports.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has issued a nationwide disaster statement before the weekend in preparation for the weather event, and other states, including Oklahoma, declared states of emergency. The national guard has been activated to respond to the weather in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.
President Biden
Joe BidenWinterstorm hits southern US Biden pens Valentine’s Day mail to woman Biden plans to focus more on coronavirus at first G7 meeting on Sunday night approved an emergency declaration for all 254 counties in Texas and activated the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to respond.