Long lines in Texas in freezing cold for clean water

Exasperated Texans lined up for hours for clean water this Friday, after an unprecedented polar cold snap left millions of people without electricity or water for days.

This extreme weather event caused ravages the southern and central United States this week claiming the life of at least 40 people, according to national media.

In Texas, one of the hardest-hit states, power has been restored in some places, but many residents still lack drinking water.

Percy McGee, a Houston resident, rated his frustration level at “10” while awaiting his turn at the city’s Delmar Stadium, which has become a place to get bottled water.

“I am very frustrated. I am diabetic. I welcome a 94 year old diabetic. We did not take any medication. Nothing …” he said.

Erica Granado, another Houston resident, said she came to the site after seeing it on the news. “I rushed ’cause I thought everyone yeah yeah everyone would want some water“, dice.

The storm is expected to ease over the weekend, especially in the south of the country, according to weather services.

“The unusually cold week in the southern plains will end this weekend with the entry of a warmer-air lowThe National Weather Service (NWS) said Friday.

The cold snap persists, however, from Dallas to New York, with snowstorms forecast for the East Coast, particularly in the New England (Northeast) region, and heavy rains in North and South Carolina.

Used for heat waves, Southern states like Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi still experience freezing temperaturesAlthough thermometers are expected to rise this Saturday in the Texas cities of Houston and Austin, with marks of around 10ºC.

Texas residents suffer from lack of water or low pressure from broken pipes due to freezing.

Due to these supply issues, some seven million Texans have been asked to boil water before consuming it or even use it for cooking.

The American President, Joe biden, met on Friday with the acting director of the federal agency for emergencies, Bob fentonand sign a new declaration of emergency for Texas.

Biden also said he planned to travel to the Mexican border state but wanted to prevent it from becoming “another burden,” and that the date of the trip will be announced next week.

In another order, Texas power grid operators reported the system had returned to normal operation and that the state of emergency has been suspended due to improving weather conditions, although service cuts continue.

Nearly 185,000 homes and businesses were still dark on Friday morning, according to the website poweroutage.us, up from around 3 million two days ago. Authorities have warned that there may still be limited selective outages.

More than 335,000 people between the states of Virginia and Louisiana were without power, and 71,000 in Oregon suffered a week of blackout after a massive ice and snow storm. Ice and snow drifted into the Appalachians, northern Maryland, southern Pennsylvania, and the northeast.

(With information from AFP)

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