At least eight deaths have been linked to a dangerous winter storm system that’s endangering lives and breaking records across the country. Almost four million homes and business in Texas were without power Tuesday morning as the electric system struggled to meet demand.
Among the dead were a woman and girl who were in an attached garage in Houston where a car was being run because the lack of power meant there was no heat in the home, reports the CBS affiliate there, KHOU-TV. Authorities said they suffered carbon monoxide poisoning. So did a man and boy from the same family, who were hospitalized. There was no word on their condition.
Also in Texas, a 78-year-old man died in Texas after falling on his front lawn and being stuck in the cold for two hours.
Among the other deaths:
One person died on an interstate in Kentucky when they lost control of their vehicle and were hit by a semi truck, a state trooper confirmed to CBS News. A 50-year-old man in Louisiana also died after slipping on ice and hitting his head on the ground, officials said.
A 10-year-old boy died in Tennessee after falling into a frozen pond, officials said. The boy’s 6-year-old sister, who also fell through the ice into the pond, was taken to the hospital in critical condition.
The record cold snap has turned Texas into a tundra. Flurries fell in south Texas, blanketing Galveston’s sandy beaches in white. Galveston’s city manager warned infrastructure damage caused by the extreme temperatures could rival the cost of a hurricane.
Frozen roads sent an 18-wheeler careening out of control near Austin. A man nearly lost his life, jumping out of the way just seconds before a car lost control and crashed into a police cruiser.
“The ultra-low temperatures will last for several days, meaning that what becomes frozen will remain frozen for a long period of time,” said Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
The historic storm also caused problems across the country.
Firefighters in Vermont rescued a young man from frigid waters after he fell through the ice. Tennessee roads turned into ice rinks after frozen precipitation fell. In Little Rock, Arkansas, cars were at a standstill on a slippery highway, trapping nurses who just got off their shift.
The temperature in parts of Oklahoma dipped below 20 degrees for five days straight for the third time ever. With another storm looming, crews worked to clear snow as fast as they could.
In Louisiana, the cold caused a transformer to blow, ripping a fireball through power lines.
The agency overseeing Texas’s power grid has declared its highest emergency level in over a decade. Texans are sitting in the dark Monday night after rolling blackouts were issued due to high power demand.
The power outages are also complicating the fight against the pandemic. After a medical facility storing vaccines in Houston lost power, medical officials scrambled to use them before they spoiled.
