Cold snap leaves over 4 million without power in Texas
More than four million were without power in Texas on Tuesday (February 16) after a rare deep freeze forced the state's electric grid operator to impose rotating blackouts because of higher power demand. And at least one person died. Houston police said on Twitter they suspected the cause of death in the fatality to be "extreme low temperatures."
Residents lost power to heat their homes just when heat became essential in a region unaccustomed to such precipitous drops in temperature. One Houston resident said she was caught unprepared, and scared.
President Joe Biden declared an emergency on Monday. Governor Greg Abbott deployed the National Guard statewide to help bring the power grid back online.
Still, some residents found ways to enjoy the chill, riding snowboards - or laundry baskets - down frozen hills.
Much of the United States was in the grip of bone-chilling weather over the three-day Presidents Day holiday weekend.
In Oklahoma City, volunteers tried to make sure homeless residents could weather the cold snap.
There is another storm on the way on Wednesday, expected to bring more snow, ice and sleet from the Texas panhandle through Kentucky and up through Washington D.C. to New York City, New Jersey and Boston.
