Police chief Art Acevedo said the treacherous conditions had led to more than 550 car accidents in the area since Sunday.
In the Dallas / Fort Worth area, up to another 6 inches of snow can fall, while iron rain is forecast in Austin, San Antonio and Houston.
Rely on fireplaces and generators
Barbara Martinez on Tuesday has a mission she would not normally undertake: Find more wood for the fireplace, which is the only source of heat in icy weather.
Her home in the suburb of Jersey Village in Houston has been largely without power since Sunday at 3 p.m., she told CNN on Tuesday morning.
She, her elderly parents and her two dogs were crammed into a room with a fireplace.
“We have different layers of clothing and it’s cold,” Martinez said. “We used our cars to charge phones, and the signal here is almost impossible to use.”
“We hope the power will come back soon because our firewood is up,” she said. “My goal today is to find more firewood.”
In the Fort Worth suburb of Watauga, Elijah Dorminy’s family relied on their generator to withstand the deadly cold – and he soon feared it would not be an option.
Dorminy, his wife and their four children were worried about what would happen if they had to refuel their generator. Only one gas station still has fuel in Watauga, Dorminy told CNN Monday night.
“Pray for us, it’s going to be hard,” he told CNN.
Water in Abilene closed
The city of Abilene, Texas, said it was forced to shut down the water service Monday night due to a power outage at three water treatment plants.
The city of about 120,000 people is located about 150 miles west of Fort Worth.
“It is not known exactly when power and subsequent water service will be returned to Abilene water customers,” reads a statement from city officials.
When the service is restored, a notice about boiling water is in force, and customers are required to bring water to a strong boiling point for at least two minutes, according to the statement.
“Texans with electricity are being asked to save as much as possible in an effort to alleviate demand for the state’s power grid and help restore service,” the city said in a statement.
The state’s largest school district closes
Several of the state’s school districts have announced that classes – both personal and virtual – will be canceled due to the weather.
The Houston Independent School District, the largest in the state, will be closed Tuesday due to icy weather, according to a message on the district’s website.
In the north, the The Dallas Independent School District, as well as the neighboring Arlington and Fort Worth Independent School District will also be closed Tuesday, according to statements on the district websites.
Fort Worth’s closures last until Wednesday, while Dallas schools closed until Thursday.
Covid-19 vaccines and appointments at risk
The storm hampered Covid-19 vaccinations, causing the appointments to be postponed and the stock threatening.
“With the current icy conditions expected to continue until at least tomorrow, we want to ensure the safety of the public. We also want to remind the public who may be concerned about the small delay for their second dose, that we are still within CDC guidelines to ensure that the vaccine continues to work without problems, ”reads the statement.
After power was lost at the Harris County Department of Public Health building and generators failed, officials had to rush to allocate and save 8,400 vaccines before they spoiled, Harris County Judge Lena Hidalgo said Monday.
Harris County officials have established them at Ben Taub, Lyndon B. Johnson and Methodist hospitals in Houston, as well as Rice University and Harris County Jail as the sites to receive the vaccine overnight, Hidalgo said. said.
CNN’s Alisha Ebrahimji, Keith Allen, Gregory Lemos, Carma Hassan, Amanda Jackson, Ed Lavandera, Rebekah Riess and Amir Vera contributed to this report.