Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on February 18 that all power plants in the state are able to resume normal power supply. Yet, there are still 300,000 homes that face power outages due to broken power poles or other restrictions. After a severe winter storm that caused the temperature to drop to minus
At the same time, other Texas leaders have warned that The state’s power grid will remain extremely ‘fragile’ for at least a few days as the weather will continue to frigid through this weekend.
The number of homes without electricity fell from 2.7 million on Wednesday to 325,000 homes yesterday. While more than 13 million Texans still face the problem of running water down.
Failed infrastructure after a winter storm hit the southern state four days ago, prompting electricity generators and state leaders to take a break. This includes Abbott himself, which has been heavily criticized by the public.
Abbott insists it has asked lawmakers to speed up legislation requiring all Texas power plants to improve their infrastructure to withstand the cold. As in other states With colder weather In order not to repeat the power outage in the future.
“What happened to the Texans this week was completely unacceptable. And it must never happen again. “ Abbott stated at the press conference. And blame the non-profit company Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which is responsible for over 90% of the electricity system in the state, because the company confirmed to officials before the blizzard that The power supply system has been optimized for cold weather conditions.
Power outages have also left millions of people without running water. And affect various hospitals Patients had to take care of patients during the COVID-19 outbreak, while some communities were cut off due to snow covered roads that could not pass.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said Thursday afternoon that 797 waterworks had problems with their water supply. This affected some 13.2 million consumers, with authorities issuing warnings that people boil tap water before drinking it.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said record freezing temperatures also made the COVID-19 vaccination possible. Must halt As more than 2,000 vaccination centers still face power outages.
Nearly 20 people have reported deaths from winter storms, officials say, the real number is likely higher. As there may be some deaths that have not been found.
Source: Reuters
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