By Nneka Nwogwugwu
The city of Texas in the U.S. has been hit by a ferocious winter weather sweeping across large parts of the central and southern US that has left millions without power and killed at least 21 people across multiple states.
Texas records the worst power outages where more than four million homes and businesses remained without power on Tuesday in subfreezing temperatures.
Elsewhere more than 250,000 people also lost power across parts of Appalachia, and 4 million people lost power in Mexico.
In North Carolina, three people were found dead after a tornado hit a seaside town, while in Texas, four family members perished in a Houston-area house fire while using a fireplace to stay warm, the Guardian UK reports.
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Others deaths occurred in states such as Louisiana, Kentucky and Missouri, from causes that included car crashes and carbon monoxide poisoning.
Naturenews gathered that the incident occurred when storms overwhelmed power grids and immobilized the southern plains, carried heavy snow and freezing rain into New England and the Deep South, and brought painfully low temperatures.
The weather also threatened to affect the nation’s Covid-19 vaccination effort.
Joe Biden’s administration said delays in vaccine shipments and deliveries were likely.
Many residents did not have water because of frozen or burst pipes. Kelsey Muñoz, an intensive care nurse in Dallas, said: “Currently, I have power and I’m hoping I am not jinxing myself by saying that. However, for water I’ve had to gather snow and melt it. Never thought I had to do that in Texas.”
The blackouts forced Harris County to scramble to get more than 8,000 doses of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine into people’s arms, after the county public health facility lost power and its back-up generator also failed.
State officials said Texas, due to receive more than 400,000 doses this week, did not expect deliveries until at least Wednesday.
