Winter Storm Wreaks Havoc in Texas
A massive winter storm left hundreds of thousands of Texans without power, water, and a decreasing amount of food. The storm disrupted the distribution of COVID-19 vaccinations not only throughout Texas but throughout the entire country.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that he approved the White House’s decision to issue a Federal Emergency Declaration for the state. The crisis wasn’t just in Texas, as the Federal Emergency Management Agency urged for Louisiana to be included in the declaration as well.
“…climate change is real and it’s happening now, and we’re not adequately prepared for it,” White House Homeland Security Adviser Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall said.
Millions of homes and businesses have been left without running water following pipe bursts caused by the water freezing. Texas citizens have since been advised to boil their water after utilities have suffered from frozen wells and water plants are running on backup power. Water reservoirs in Austin, Texas that hold up to 100 million gallons of water almost ran dry after water began leaking from burst pipes.
“If we simply try to turn the system back on everywhere and don’t check for leaks and do this in a methodical way, we’ll simply repeat what happened the other night where all the water drains out of our system,” Austin’s Water Director Greg Meszaros said.
The delivery of 400,000 first doses and 330,000-second COVID-19 doses were delayed following the arrival of the storm. Health officials within the state continued to deliver shots to more than 5,000 recipients after a power outage in a storage facility where they are usually held. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has said that more than 2,000 vaccine sites are in areas with power outages and vaccine shipments to major cities have since been delayed.
“We’re just going to have to make up for it as soon as the weather lifts a bit, the ice melts and we can get the trucks out and the people out,” Dr. Anthony S. Fauci said. “We’re just going to have to make up for it, namely do double time when this thing clears up.”
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amilia hernandez • Oct 18, 2021 at 11:34 am
A very informative article that states very clearly the severity of the situation is texas.
Jack Middleton • Mar 8, 2021 at 11:38 pm
This article was very well written! I loved how you mentioned other issues, but instead included other things going on.
Aidan G Capps • Mar 2, 2021 at 9:34 am
I like how you talked about these these issues as widespread issues and not just in Texas, I also think it is nice that there is also good news shared in this article. The article feels like there was a lot of time put into it.
Chloe Sackett • Mar 2, 2021 at 9:26 am
The article was very well written. It was obvious that you knew what you were talking about and the use of quotes makes the story that much better. It awful to see what’s happening in Texas and how unprepared that state was for the freezing weather conditions. I know the storm came out of nowhere for them, but the state has seen cold weather like that before, and it’s crazy to think about all the problems they are facing.
Asma Sanaullah • Mar 2, 2021 at 8:21 am
I like how well informed this article was and you inlcuded a lot of really good information. I also like how you mentioned the distribution of vaccines which I really didn’t think about with the storm how challending it would be. I also loved how you included quotes from experts in the article and that gave a direct perspective on things. Overall I really liked it.
Evelyn O. • Mar 2, 2021 at 7:57 am
It’s very sad to see how despite the evidence of how quickly climate is changenging some people still don’t do anything to help stop it. I heard many stories of people taht were struggling because of the storm, I really hope things get better and they can continue giving the vaccines.
Maddy Rhodes • Mar 2, 2021 at 7:47 am
I liked the quotes that were put into the article because I was able to hear first hand how people in Texas felt with all that was going on. I also liked how you talked about Covid-19 vaccines that were delayed from the storm and the many impacts the storm had on all the people.
Solana Rangel • Mar 2, 2021 at 7:37 am
I liked how you didn’t just talk about what is going on in Texas but how it’s affecting things outside the state, for example, the Covid vaccines. Also, I didn’t know that Lousiana was supposed to be included in the Federal Emergency Declaration.