Rare freeze leaves 2 mln Texans without power
A rare deep freeze in Texas caused so severe a spike in demand for heat and electricity that on Monday the state's electric grid operator imposed rotating blackouts that left more than 2 million customers without power.
President Joe Biden declared an emergency on Monday, unlocking federal assistance to Texas, where temperatures plunged as far as negative 8 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 22 Celsius.
The National Weather Service said an Arctic air mass had spread southwards, well beyond areas accustomed to freezing weather over the Presidents Day Holiday Weekend.
Icy conditions on a highway last week in Dallas caused a massive pileup.
The storms knocked out nearly half of Texas' wind power generation capacity on Sunday. Wind is the source for nearly a quarter of the state's electricity.
In neighboring Arkansas, a power company pleaded with customers to turn their thermostats down, saying it might be chilly, but the grid needed to conserve electricity.
Snow blanketed parts of the Pacific Northwest over the weekend, stretching from Portland, Oregon, to Seattle.
The surprise snowfall sent snowed-in residents scurrying to buy shovels, which quickly sold out.
