The severe winter weather ravaging the middle and Southern parts of the United States has led to at least seven deaths as of Tuesday, as millions across the country face power outages.
As many states throughout nation remain in dangerous, below-freezing temperatures, a tornado ripped through North Carolina Monday night, killing at least three, according to a statement from Gov. Roy Cooper.
“It’s something like I have never seen before. A lot of destruction. It’s going to be a long recovery process,” Brunswick County Sheriff John Ingram said during a news conference early Tuesday.
The tornado struck just after midnight near Grissettown in the Ocean Ridge Plantation Community. The storm left thousands without electricity and caused massive tree limb damage. Authorities said 10 others have been injured, and some residents are trapped inside homes.
BREAKING: Three people are dead and 10 are injured after a tornado ripped through Brunswick County, North Carolina overnight.
The sheriff’s office who took these photos says several homes have been destroyed. pic.twitter.com/MHAQp5gTRs
— Rob Way (@RobWayTV) February 16, 2021
Cold temperatures and winter weather advisories remain in effect for dozens of counties across Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky.
Nebraska saw temperatures as low as -36 F, colder than the Siberian city of Yakutsk, where it was -30 F. Minnesota also saw temperatures as low as -35 F.
Temperatures as low as -36 are being reported in Nebraska at this hour. That’s currently colder than the Siberian city of Yakutsk where it is -30 F at a little after 10 p.m. local time. Elsewhere, temps in northern Minnesota are as low as -35. https://t.co/WzOnDeTxaR pic.twitter.com/GSVIU0ADLL
— AccuWeather (@breakingweather) February 16, 2021
Texas cities such as Austin and Houston were covered in nearly half a foot of snow over the weekend. Galveston’s shoreline was also coated in a rare layer of snow by the beach.
SNOW ON THE BEACH: Rare sight in Texas as winter storm brings snowfall to the shoreline in Galveston. https://t.co/FDYxlDlzU4 pic.twitter.com/iHBVuMKFbD
— ABC News (@ABC) February 16, 2021
More than 4.2 million homes are without power throughout the Lone Star State as of Tuesday morning. The state’s grid, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, remains separate from the rest of the federal power grid networks and has asked customers to conserve their electricity usage.
Most of the plants down through Monday and Tuesday night are fueled by coal, gas, or nuclear power. Nearly 40% of electricity in Texas comes from natural gas fired plants, with an additional 23% being wind turbines, which were reportedly shut down due to the frozen temperatures, leading to more blackouts, according to the Wall Street Journal.
This is Houston tonight. pic.twitter.com/bpsQNlVr0y
— Travis Herzog (@TravisABC13) February 16, 2021
In Houston, a woman and a child died from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning in a home without electricity due to a car running in an attached garage.
Authorities also found two men dead along Houston roadways suspected of succumbing to the unprecedented subfreezing temperatures.
Over 200 locations across Houston roads have been coated in ice and deemed “not safe for travel,” according to the state’s Department of Transportation.
Storms moving east have caused inclement weather across Kentucky and Tennessee, with two people reportedly dying in separate crashes in Kentucky on Monday.
