Freeze Texas: In Videos and Pictures

Water and heat failure persists in extremely cold conditions in Texas. Millions of Texans are surviving without electricity or water this week. Peoples are looking for cell services on overloaded towers, and after water pipes burst and gas leaks into their homes.

Officials said that power outages and pipeline ruptures continued to disrupt water supplies for more than 14 million Texans because the authorities had transported bottles by air, and said that pipeline rupture could be the biggest challenge for residents next week.

W. Nim Kidd, the head of the Texas Department of Emergency Management, said that the authorities provided about 1.7 million bottles of water in the past day and turned to military resources to deliver supplies, while the roads remain dangerously cold. He said he expects to air cargo to Houston, Austin, San Antonio and Abilene on Friday. The government will delivering bottles for “as long as it takes,” Kidd said.

US President Joe Biden is set to declare a major disaster for Texas, clearing the way for more federal funds to be spent on relief efforts. The state is restoring electricity and the temperature will rise, but about 13 million people still face difficulties in obtaining clean water.

Mr Biden said he will visit Texas as long as his presence is not a burden on relief efforts. Throughout the United States, nearly 60 people died in cold weather.

Officials in Texas, such as Houston, Austin and Dallas, are ensuring public access to government resources. Several other southern states were hit by snow storms this week, and water supply disruptions have also been reported.

Winter weather also cut off water sources in Jackson, Mississippi (home to approximately 150,000 people) and the largest county in Tennessee (including Memphis), which has a population of more than 651,000.

Across the US South, a region unaccustomed to such frigid temperatures, people whose pipes have frozen have taken to boiling snow to make water.

What happened in Texas?

As the temperature plummeted to a 30-year low and reached 0F (-18C) earlier this week, the energy demand in the Southwest was overwhelmed.

As on Friday, approximately 180,000 homes and businesses in Texas still have no electricity. In the severe cold early this week, as many as 3.3 million people had no electricity.

Hundreds of water supply systems have been damaged by icing, and approximately 13 million people (close to half of the state’s population) are facing interruptions in water services.

The New York State Water Superintendent told reporters on Thursday that 325 million gallons (1.2 billion liters) of water were lost when a pipe in the state’s capital Austin broke.

Houston, the largest city in Texas, is under the so-called “boiling water notification.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all planned consumption of water (even after filtering) must be boiled. Pollution.

Officials there said they are working to quickly distribute bottled water and generators to those in need. Breweries and other local businesses also help provide drinking water.

-With the Inputs and pictures from Shabina Tauqueer (Austin, Texas)