Wearing two layers of shirts, jackets, and pants underneath layers of blankets, Jerome Marshall, 33, went to sleep in his Texas home last Monday and waited for the power to turn back on. When he woke up the next morning, the thermostat inside his home read 32 degrees, and there was no indication that the power would be back on soon.

That same day, Ted Gamby left his home in University Park in search of gas to power generators at his home and the home of his in-laws. He put his credit card into the gas pump over and over again, but it wouldn’t take. The power had been shut off at the station, and the pumps were frozen.