At least 17 deaths have been linked back to Winter Storm Uri, which has torn through Texas, leaving millions without power.
A list compiled by the Weather Channel includes several school-age children who died at the hands of the storm, which prompted a range of life-threatening situations.
In one instance, a woman and a young girl died after being exposed to carbon monoxide after the family left a car running to heat their powerless house. Two others were taken to a nearby hospital. Harris County, the largest county in Texas, reportedly received 50 calls related to carbon monoxide exposure.
Another woman and her three school-age children died in a house fire early Tuesday morning in Sugar Land in a neighborhood that was left without power for roughly eight hours. Two others were injured, and the cause of the fire is being investigated. Others died amid the frigid weather, including a 60-year-old man, believed to be homeless, who was found in a van.
The casualties follow at least six deaths and several injuries that were the result of a 130-car pileup on an icy Texas interstate last week.
More than 4.4 million households and businesses were left without power in Texas on Tuesday morning, with the entire state seeing temperatures below freezing in several cities on Monday and Tuesday. The storm knocked out utilities for many, leaving Texans without any means of heating their homes.
Power providers have urged residents to keep their thermostats at 68 degrees or lower, turn off their lights, avoid oven use, and close blinds to reduce heat loss from their homes.
Barbara Martinez, who has been without power since 3 a.m. on Sunday in her Houston home, told CNN that she is searching for firewood to help heat her house. Martinez, her two elderly parents, and her two dogs remain in one room with one fireplace.
“We have several layers of clothing, and it’s cold,” Martinez said. “We’ve been using our cars to charge up phones, and [the] signal here is nearly impossible to use. We hope the power comes back soon because we are running out of firewood. My goal today is to find more firewood.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott urged the state legislature to launch an investigation into the Electric Reliability Council of Texas over the mass power outages.
“The Electric Reliability Council of Texas has been anything but reliable over the past 48 hours,” Abbott said. “Far too many Texans are without power and heat for their homes as our state faces freezing temperatures and severe winter weather. This is unacceptable.”
ERCOT said the reason for rolling blackouts in some areas has been to maintain the state’s energy grid, which advises power companies on how much they have available to use safely at any given time. So far, ERCOT said it has restored enough power to serve about 500,000 homes.
“ERCOT and Texas electric companies have been able to restore service to hundreds of thousands of households today, but we know there are many people who are still waiting,” ERCOT President and CEO Bill Magness said. “It’s also important to remember that severe weather, mainly frigid temperatures, is expected to continue, so we’re not out of the woods.”
State and local officials have also advised Texans to avoid traveling and stay home during this time.
