The Texas crisis is spreading after a frigid winter storm paralyzes infrastructure in the state. While electricity has largely been restored, more than 13 million people – nearly half of the state’s population – currently lack access to clean running water.
In many houses the tap is dry. Finding bottled water is next to impossible. Some have resorted to cooking snowHouston, America’s fourth largest city, opened 11 locations to give water away on Thursday.
David J. Phillip / AP
When the pipes burst in the home of Texas Representative Shawn Thierry, her world exploded. She and her 8-year-old daughter are in a hotel, but cannot live there for long.
“I mean, this is a nightmare, this is everyone’s nightmare,” Thierry told CBS News. “Your home is your abode, it is where you go to find your peace and work and now I am uprooted.”
Thierry finds herself in a new phase of misery among millions. When the lights come on again, the horrors of the storm are revealed.
Water is everywhere – or nowhere, because many treatment plants have been taken offline and millions have been commissioned for cooking water. A line to get to a plumbing store ran for blocks. Even food is hard to come by as some supermarket shelves are empty.
Along the east coast, snow and ice cause serious car accidents and the downing of power lines, leaving tens of thousands in the dark. President Biden declared a state of emergency in Oklahoma, where residents there saw the longest streak of freezing temperatures ever.
This winter storm even caused a political when Senator Ted Cruz of Texas was seen on a flight to Cancun while his constituents were suffering in the cold. He returned to Houston under police escort after photos and video of him went public. CBS News heard he originally planned to return Saturday.
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