Power is back in Texas and the state of emergency is lifted, but there are still isolated outages

Texas power grid operators reported on Friday that the The system has returned to normal operation and the state of emergency has been suspended due to improving weather conditions, although service outages continue. Many of the millions of Texans who have been without power for days since a winter storm overwhelmed the power grid have reclaimed it. However, the crisis is far from over in parts of the south of the state, where significant percentages of the population still lack potable water.

Almost 185,000 homes and businesses were still in darkness Friday morning, according to poweroutage.us, up from around 3 million two days ago. Authorities have warned that there could still be limited selective outages.

More than 335,000 interstates from Virginia to Louisiana were without power and 71,000 in Oregon they 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. At least 57 people have died as a result of freezes and system crashes. Among them, a 17-year-old girl fell into a frozen lake in Oklahoma. Thursday, according to the National Highway Patrol.

Many people died trying to warm up. In Abilene, West Texas six people died, including a 60-year-old man who froze to death in his bed. In Houston area, family died in their car suffocated by carbon monoxide.

Power companies from Minnesota to Texas used phased outages to ease pressure on their networksBut the outages that still persisted in Texas were due to bad weather, according to the agency that manages the network in the state, ERCOT.

The acting head of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Bob Fenton said his teams were in Texas to distribute fuel, water and blankets and other essentials.

Governor Greg Abbott warned that The emergency has yet to be overcome, as temperatures remain freezing, a winter storm threatens the southern part of the state and there may be disruptions in the food supply chain.

And if that wasn’t enough, time has disrupted drinking water networks. Authorities have ordered 7 million people – a quarter of the population of the second largest state – to boil tap water before drinking it taking into account the damage caused to infrastructure and plumbing. In Abilene, a man died who could not receive medical treatment due to lack of water pressure.

President Joe Biden said he called Abbott Thursday night to offer further support from the federal government.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said residents of America’s fourth largest city should likely boil running water until Sunday or Monday.

With AP information

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