HOUSTON,Much of the United States was in the icy
grip of an “unprecedented” winter storm Monday as frigid Arctic air sent
temperatures plunging, forcing hundreds of flight cancellations, making
driving hazardous and leaving millions without power in Texas.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for the southern
state, and the National Weather Service (NWS) said more than 150 million
Americans were under winter weather advisories.
“I urge all Texans to remain vigilant against the extremely harsh weather,”
Abbott said in a statement.
The NWS described conditions as an “unprecedented and expansive area of
hazardous winter weather” from coast-to-coast.
More than 2.7 million people were without power in Texas, according to
PowerOutage.US, and temperatures in the major metropolis of Houston dipped to
16 degrees Fahrenheit (minus nine Celsius).
“We woke up this morning, our pipes are all frozen and we have no water in
the house,” Burke Nixon, a resident of Houston, told AFP.
President Joe Biden issued an emergency declaration for Texas on Sunday
providing federal assistance to supplement state relief efforts.
Texas is not used to such brutal winter weather, and the storm caused havoc
in parts of the state, including a 100-car pile-up on Interstate 35 near Fort
Worth last week that left at least six people dead.
“It’s lovely to see the white but very dangerous at the same time because
people here don’t know how to drive in it. You know they’re driving too
fast,” said Michael, a Houston resident who gave only his first name.
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport said that all flights had been
cancelled on Monday due to the “historic weather,” and Houston’s George Bush
Intercontinental Airport also shut down.
The NWS said Arctic air was driving a “polar plunge” that is expected to
bring record-low temperatures.
Much of the United States has been shivering under chilly temperatures for
days, with about half of all Americans now under some sort of winter weather
warning.
Temperatures have dropped across the country, with only parts of the
southeast and southwest dodging it.
The cold snap has led to heavy snowfalls and ice storms that have caused a
spike in electricity demand and power outages.
– ‘Polar plunge’ –
Besides Texas, weather-related emergencies have also been declared in
Alabama, Oregon, Oklahoma, Kansas, Kentucky and Mississippi.
More than 300,000 customers are without power in Oregon.
“Over 150 million Americans are currently under winter storm warnings, ice
storm warnings, winter storm watches, or winter weather advisories as
impactful winter weather continues from coast to coast,” the NWS said.
“This impressive onslaught of wicked wintry weather across much of the
Lower 48 (states) is due to the combination of strong Arctic high pressure
supplying sub-freezing temperatures and an active storm track escorting waves
of precipitation.”
The NWS said record low temperatures were expected in much of the country.
“Hundreds of daily low maximum and minimum temperatures have been/will be
broken during this prolonged ‘polar plunge,’ with some February and even all-
time low temperature records in jeopardy,” it said.
In a large area known as the southern Plains that spans parts of Texas,
Oklahoma and Kansas, temperatures are expected to fall well below typical
readings for the time of year.
“Temperature anomalies are likely to be 25 to 45 degrees (Fahrenheit) below
normal for much of the central and southern Plains,” the NWS said.
It said six to 12 inches (15 to 30 centimeters) of snow were forecast from
the Ohio Valley and eastern Great Lakes to northern New England.
Florida will remain the warmest spot in the continental United States, with
highs above normal and temperatures generally around 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
The extreme weather in the United States triggered a massive blackout in
northern Mexico that left some three million people without power, as natural
gas supplies across the border were disrupted.
“Of the 4,766,901 users in the northern region of the country, 3,088,517
were affected and so far the electricity service has been restored to 65
percent,” Mexico’s Federal Electricity Commission announced on Twitter.
It said freezing gas pipelines had triggered “significant” cuts in gas
supplies from the US, which affected local power plants that depend on the
fuel in northern Mexico — itself suffering from plunging temperatures.