Blackout across Texas amid severe temperature
A winter storm dropping snow and ice also sent temperatures plunging across the southern Plains; prompting a power emergency in Texas a day, after conditions canceled flights and impacted traffic across large swaths of the U.S.
Rotating power outages were initiated by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, early Monday morning, meaning thousands went without electricity for periods of time as temperatures fell into the teens near Dallas and 20s (about minus 5 degrees Celsius) around Houston.
ROTATING OUTAGE UPDATE: Due to the severity of weather and the condition of the @ERCOT_ISO grid, rotating outages in the Austin Energy area are lasting longer than the expected 40 minutes.
Please continue to conserve energy.
How rotating outages work: https://t.co/fxc16JZo6H pic.twitter.com/xyTwCrehIt— Austin Energy (@austinenergy) February 15, 2021
Austin’s electric utility Austin Energy told residents the outages may be longer than usual; prompting angry social media replies from Texans who said they’d been without power for five or more hours.
“Typical events allow short durations of each outage, but outages are longer if the ERCOT grid requires, which is what we’re seeing in today’s event,” Austin Energy wrote on Twitter.
The utility advised residents to keep their thermostat set to 68 degrees or lower and to avoid using their oven or washing machine. likewise, Businesses were advised to minimize operations to conserve energy.
in addition, Forecasts predict more heavy snow and freezing rain to spread across a larger swathe of central and eastern sections of the country on Monday; with a storm front in the west likely to dump up to 60cm of snow in the northern Rockies.
Marc Chenard; a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center; said: “Typically, we just don’t have quite this much cold air in a place that far south.”
Reports across the region of Nearly 120 crashes; including a 10-car pileup.
A massive hell in Texas Fort Worth I 35
At least five people were killed and dozens injured Thursday in a massive crash involving 75 to 100 vehicles on an icy Texas interstate
A winter storm dropped freezing rain, sleet and snow on parts of the U.S.
pic.twitter.com/jmsZUl5NJe— CONNIE’S CORNER (@CRRJA5) February 11, 2021
Similarly, The storm has prompted officials in Houston to advise residents to prepare for power outages and hazardous roads.
The region had been gearing up for the winter weather for the better part of the weekend. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for all of the state’s 254 counties. Abbott, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, and Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson each activated National Guard units to assist state agencies with tasks including rescuing stranded drivers.
Also, President Joe Biden declared an emergency in Texas in a statement Sunday night.
A presidential emergency declaration allows the US Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts and provide assistance, equipment, and resources to those affected by the storm.
