This is because states with typically mild winters – including Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Kentucky – are already dealing with dangerous roads, power outages, and water cut-offs from winter storms. The weather has resulted in at least 26 deaths, including three people who died in carbon monoxide incidents and one driver who hit a snow plow.
Cold temperatures are expected to decline next week, but temperatures will remain 25 to 40 degrees below normal over the weekend, when a storm system developing near Texas will bring the next round of winter weather, CNN meteorologist Michael Guy said.
With electricity demand hitting “record highs,” New Orleans has had to prepare for ongoing power outages until midnight Wednesday, according to NOLA Ready, the City of New Orleans’ emergency preparedness campaign.
In the state with nearly 3 million outages in the country, CEO Bill Magness of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) said he’s unsure when power will return to customers.
“We cannot put ourselves in a situation where, by acting prematurely – I hate to say it because it has been such a long event – but by acting prematurely to shut it down completely, in that blackout end up that could last, you know, an indefinite amount of time, ‘said Magness.
Injuries and destruction
Along with outages, the storm has resulted in destruction, injury and even death.
Tulsa, Oklahoma, reported more than 100 interruptions to the water supply and service lines due to Arctic conditions, according to the Waterline Break Board on the City of Tulsa website.
“Waterline breaches in Tulsa create dangerous conditions,” Tulsa police tweeted with a photo of a parked patrol car that got stuck when a waterline broke and water froze around the vehicle’s wheels.
As of Monday, 123 people were hospitalized in the state with injuries from the weather.
Officials have warned residents that the roads are making the roads treacherous, and fatal traffic incidents have been reported.
A person in Medina County, outside of Cleveland, was killed when their vehicle hit a snow plow, Ohio transportation director Jack Marchbanks announced Tuesday.
According to the director, 11 snowplows have hit Ohio in the past two weeks, compared to eight last winter. “So it’s very treacherous out there,” Marchbanks said.
In North Carolina, the larger weather system triggered a tornado that ripped through Brunswick County on Monday, killing three people and injuring 10 others, officials said.
“We had a very minimal warning,” Edward Conrow, Brunswick County’s director of emergency services, told a news conference on Tuesday. “We received a tornado warning from the National Weather Service that was broadcast, but at that point the storm was already on the ground and causing damage.”
The weather is slowing down vaccinations against Covid-19
Weather hazards have also caused roadblocks in the country’s fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
States stretching from Colorado to Georgia have delayed shipments or vaccination appointments due to weather conditions.
According to the Colorado State Joint Information Center, the implications for a vaccine distribution center in Tennessee will delay the shipment of doses to Colorado and other states. Ohio was expecting shipments direct from Pfizer and Moderna to be delayed for one to two days due to the severity of the weather, Governor Mike DeWine said Tuesday.
Many health care providers in Georgia are scheduling their vaccination appointments due to the delays, but when they can reschedule depends on when the shipments resume, which could come next week, the Georgia Department of Public Health said Tuesday.
Vaccines delivered to Illinois will be sent to the Strategic National Stockpile Receipt, Store, and Stage site pending such delays, according to a state press release.
The Texas mayor spent 38 hours without heat or water
Texas has been hit hardest by the storm, and many there suffer from freezing temperatures with no power to heat their homes.
Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price told CNN on Tuesday evening that she had been without electricity or water for about 38 hours.
“It fell to a record low last night, two degrees lower,” Price said. So it’s really cold, and this is Texas, North Texas. We don’t get this kind of weather. People don’t always have the clothes for it and they certainly don’t drive it very well. ‘
“If people have neighbors that they know have no heat and maybe they do, offer to include them, let’s watch each other, let’s try to do the right thing by helping, sharing what we have”, the mayor urged. Residents. Price says the city has the resources to open more shelters if needed and will review the situation hour by hour.
For residents who are homeless and cannot be served by shelters, Waco, Texas, offers 15 hotel rooms for six nights, Mayor Dillon Meek said.
“This is not a sustainable solution, but it will help deter vulnerable people from hiding in single-digit temperatures.”
CNN’s Chris Boyette, Gisela Crespo, Rebekah Riess, Jessica Myers, Andy Rose and Dave Alsup contributed to this report.