The Lone Star State—first hit by snow and ice earlier this week and a massive power grid crisis—is now suffering through a water crisis.
About 13 million Texas residents, or roughly half the state’s approximately 29 million people, were under an advisory to boil their drinking water, Fox News and other outlets have reported.
Many communities have opened up supply sites and are offering water to struggling residents.
For many, adequate food supplies are also now in question.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott asked President Joe Biden for a major disaster declaration in order to bring federal resources to assist the state.
“We need to make sure we use every tool possible to get water restored to our fellow Texans,” Abbott said, according to FOX 4 of Dallas.
Some store owners and others have generously and bravely stepped up to help their fellow citizens and neighbors.
See this tweet with one example:
This furniture store owner opened his doors as a shelter amid the ongoing Texas power crisis pic.twitter.com/jsJ6bQajXd
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) February 19, 2021
Early on Friday, crews in Houston could be seen preparing bottled water supplies for distribution at Delmar Stadium, as Fox News noted. The distribution was scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. CT, the Houston Office of Emergency Management wrote in a Twitter message.
Many are wondering why the federal government—and President Biden—have not done more, and more quickly, to help Texans on the ground during this continuing disaster.
See the following tweets about the emergency.
Pray for our fellow citizens—and share your thoughts on our Facebook page.
While people with means can pay to go to a hotel if they need to during Texas' bout of extreme weather, those who might need to rely on public shelters saw those institutions' capacity massively diminished due to the coronavirus pandemic. https://t.co/xmpdjbx8Uo
— ABC News (@ABC) February 19, 2021
15,000,000 people in Texas without water. Food lines.
— Rep. Paul Gosar, DDS (@RepGosar) February 19, 2021
Maybe. Just maybe. The national guard in DC could go where they are needed instead of patrolling the Rayburn Building looking for ghosts.
Texas’ power grid was “seconds and minutes” away from a catastrophic failure that could have left Texans in the dark for months, officials with the entity that operates the grid said Thursday. https://t.co/3Uk8YrTB89
— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) February 18, 2021
Live updates: Millions have power restored in Texas, but water and heat failures persist amid extreme cold https://t.co/IHpFksalmv
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 19, 2021
What’s happening in Texas is not an indicator that renewable energy is less reliable—it’s a signal that our infrastructure is frighteningly unprepared for extreme weather. https://t.co/LE68vTkdOs
— The Nation (@thenation) February 19, 2021
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—By CNJ Staff