Texans deserve answers over a ‘man-made’ power crisis fueled by a deadly winter storm that has plagued the state, a top official said Friday.
“It was a man-made disaster that shortened lives,” Democrat Harina County Judge Lina Hidalgo tweeted Friday. “We are now reporting ten deaths under hypothermia in Harris County, 600+ carbon monoxide cases, and still count. If the dust settles, people deserve answers and accountability.”
In Texas, a land judge is related to a land manager in other parts of the US
Harris County, which includes Houston, is the third most populous province in the country, with more than 4 million inhabitants. Only Los Angeles County (more than 9 million residents) and Cook County, Illinois (more than 5 million residents), which includes Chicago, are larger.
Nearly four dozen people in Texas and nine other states affected by the storm have reportedly died.
Officials from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which operates the state’s power grid, were forced to cut power to millions of residents this week when the drop in temperatures caused an increase in demand that threatened the stability of the grid.
TEXAS TEMPERATURE CLIMBING, POWER EXPORTS RECOVER BUT FOOD AND WATER SHORTAGE REMAIN
By noon, about 180,000 customers had lost power, compared to more than 4 million earlier in the week.
People are waiting in line to fill up propane tanks on Wednesday, February 17, 2021 in Houston. (Associated Press)
Still, nearly half of the state is advised to boil water for drinking, and residents also face empty shelves in grocery stores.
Gov. Greg Abbott at a news conference Thursday called on state lawmakers to mandate the winterization of generators and the modernization of the network, KSAT TV from San Antonio reported.
“All of us agree on the need for action,” Abbott told reporters. “Not just the action taken to restore your strength, but an action to ensure you never have to endure something like this again.”
The disaster caused a fair amount of finger-pointing, and ERCOT on Tuesday clarified false stories spreading online claiming that wind turbines that froze in the cold weather were primarily responsible for Texans losing their electricity.
Failures in natural gas, coal and nuclear energy systems accounted for nearly twice as many outages as frozen wind turbines and solar panels combined, ERCOT said at a news conference.
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Hidalgo continued to note the importance of being ‘united’ during a crisis.
“I would like to thank President Biden, Governor Abbott, and our congressional delegation for their tireless efforts in obtaining a major disaster. More help is on the way.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.