A winter storm that escaped snow and ice also brought temperatures that fell south of the Plains, causing an electrical emergency in Texas a day after conditions canceled flights and affected traffic in large areas of the United States. lasting short periods could take several hours, while temperatures dropped in teenagers near Dallas and the 1920s around Houston.
The rotating panels of electricity were initiated early Monday morning by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages the flow of energy in the state.
The Council described rotary interruptions as “the last resort to maintain the reliability of the electricity system as a whole”, adding that utility companies are tasked with deciding how to reduce system demand.
Oncor, a utility that serves the Dallas-Fort Worth area and other parts of the state, said on Monday morning on Twitter that the outages it could take hours.
“These are not continuous disruptions,” said Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner he said on Twitter. “We are dealing with system-wide outages across the country.”
Oncor advised customers to close the blinds or curtains, close the rooms and put towels or cloths in the cracks under the doors to avoid heat loss.
“Every network operator and every electricity company is fighting to restore electricity right now,” said Bill Magness, President and CEO of the board. he said in a statement.
More than 2.7 million customers in Texas have been in the dark since 11:20 a.m., according to poweroutage.us, a utility tracking site.
CBS Dallas-Fort Worth reported that strong winds create sub-zero wind chills. For the first time, a wind chill warning has been in place for North Texas. Dangerous temperatures of “cold sensation” were expected on Monday evening and Tuesday.
CBS Houston affiliate KHOU-TV said all of Southeast Texas was also under a wind chill warning until Tuesday morning.
Up to 400 record cold temperatures were possible across the country by mid-week, CBS News meteorologist and climate specialist Jeff Berardelli said.
Matt Varble, in the Las Colinas suburb of Dallas, told The Dallas Morning News that the power went out several times Monday morning. The second time, he left around 3:30 and did not return from 7 in the morning
“It’s starting to get very cold in my house,” Varble told the newspaper. “I lived in the north for a very long time and nothing like that ever happened when I lived in New York, Ohio and Illinois.”
About 5,000 customers in Oklahoma Gas & Electric were without power overnight, and Entergy Arkansas had about 3,000 outages. Both states have much smaller populations compared to Texas.
Houston officials have warned people to prepare for disruptions and dangerous roads – conditions similar to what residents could see in a Category 5 hurricane.
“There have been (were) numerous reports of recent freezing accidents,” National Meteorological Service Forecaster Bob Oravec said Monday. “I think there will be a big threat today as the system pushes to the northeast.”
By mid-morning, 3,000 flights had been canceled nationwide, about 1,600 at Dallas / Fort Worth and Bush Intercontinental International Airports in Texas. At DFW, the temperature was 4 degrees Fahrenheit – 3 degrees colder than Moscow.
Ice accumulation between one-tenth and a quarter of an inch was possible in eastern Louisiana, Mississippi, central Tennessee, Kentucky and in the West Virginia and Ohio border region, Oravec said.
Up to 12 inches of snow was expected in some parts of the southern plains until Monday, said Marc Chenard, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Weather Forecast Center.
The region had prepared for winter weather for most of the weekend. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has issued a disaster statement for all 254 counties in the state. Abbott, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, and Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson each the National Guard units were activated to assist state agencies with tasks, including rescuing stranded drivers.
Sue Ogrocki / AP
President Biden also declared an emergency in Texas in a statement Sunday night. The statement is meant to add federal aid to local and state response efforts.
The National Weather Service said Sunday that the forecast by early Tuesday requires 8 to 12 inches of snow in central Oklahoma and 4 to 8 inches in an area stretching from East Texas to the northeast Ohio Valley.
In Louisiana, police closed several bridges and parts of highways due to freezing conditions around Baton Rouge. In particular, Interstate 10 between Baton Rouge and Lafayette was closed in both directions on Monday morning due to the accumulation of ice that caused multiple accidents.
In Memphis, Tennessee, snow began to fall on Sunday afternoon, and in Mississippi, sleet in Jackson and other central parts of the state left slick roads and bridges.
Parts of Kentucky and West Virginia that are still recovering from an ice storm last week were expected to reach up to a quarter of a cent of ice or up to 8 inches of snow by Tuesday.