The historic winter storm that is ravaging several states including Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky, and Missouri is expected to last until the weekend.
So far, 21 people died and over 3 million others in the Lone Star State are without power for a third consecutive day adding salt to residents’ injuries.
Scores of people lined up to purchase groceries and gathered in shelters to survive the frigid temperatures amid power outages.
“We knew a week in advance this storm was coming. ERCOT should have had a backup plan,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said.
But wind energy generators also failed to meet the unprecedented demand when the giant wind turbines froze and stood still.
“Let me give it to you straight. There’s a possibility of power outages even beyond the length of this storm,” Lina Hidalgo, Harris County Top Executive predicted.
Energy researcher Joshua Rhodes argued that the energy grid couldn’t afford such long, deep, and unprecedented freezing conditions.
“The system as we built it is not performing to the standards we would like to see. We need to do a better job. If that involves paying more for energy to have more reliability, that’s a conversation we’re going to have to have.”
Authorities in Mississippi woke up to a rare landscape of ice and snow that they later struggled to deal with due to the lack of plows, hardly ever used there.
