Falling temperatures in the U.S. state of Texas have left at least one dead and more than 4 million people without light due to overloading the power grid amid increased demand for heat.
According to Houston City Police, it is suspected the person died due to exposure to “extremely low temperatures.”
Temperatures in Texas are expected to range from -2 ° C to -22 ° C. Houston airports have been closed due to cold and snow.
At dawn on Tuesday (16), the PowerOutage.us site recorded 4,113,701 people with power cuts in Texas.
“The Texas power grid has not been affected. The ability of some companies to generate energy has been frozen, ”Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on social media. “They work so that the generation [de energia] return to normal ”.
President Joe Biden declared an emergency on Monday (15) and released federal aid to Texas.
In the state of Louisiana, the cold has also caused blackouts, in addition to roadblocks. About 110,000 homes and state businesses were without power on Monday evening.
Millions of people were also without electricity because of the cold in Mexico.
According to the National Weather Service (NWS), the low temperatures recorded in the United States are due to a mass of air coming from the Arctic.
The cold is expected to continue for the next few days and a snowstorm is expected to arrive on Wednesday (17)