Texas sees deaths and massive power outages as winter storm hits

A deadly winter storm pummeling the country’s South and mid-section left millions without power in Texas early Tuesday and spawned a possible tornado that killed three in North Carolina.

At least 25 people have died in weather-related fatalities so far since Thursday, most of them in Texas, as the storm continues to blanket large swathes of the country.

The suspected tornado hit North Carolina’s Brunswick County around midnight and left at least three people dead and 10 injured, Brunswick County Emergency Services said Tuesday, ripping homes from their foundations and snapping trees in half.

In Texas, two people, one a child, died from carbon monoxide poisoning after a car was used to generate power for heat, Houston Police said.

More than 4.1 million people are waking up without power in Texas, according to poweroutage.us., as record low temperatures bring a demand for power that the state’s electric grid cannot keep up with.

The areas the hardest hit by outages were around Galveston and Houston, according to poweroutage.us.

Sen. Ted Cruz, a staunch supporter of Donald Trump, and a Republican opposed to government socialism, is now backtracking and requesting federal aid.

 

News Reporter