[ad_1]
Xinhua News Agency, Houston, February 17Journalist’s Note: Power and water were shut off in many places in Texas before the cold snap
Xinhua News Agency reporter Gao Lu
Due to extremely cold weather, parts of the southern US state of Texas, including Houston, have suffered extensive power outages in recent days. Like many people in a state of power outages, water outages and no heat, reporters ran to the homes of family and friends to warm themselves.
Affected by the cold polar current, parts of Texas began to experience extreme weather conditions such as snowfall, ice and freezing rain on the night of the 14th, leading to icing on roads, road closures and large-scale blackouts. Sudden spikes in power consumption have led to obvious power supply shortages. Additionally, some power plants have frozen power generation equipment and many electrical grids in Texas are unable to supply power normally.
A website that monitors the electricity supply in the United States shows that nearly 2.5 million homes in Texas had power outages on the morning of the 15th. This number rose to 4 million homes on the 16th. 17, there were still more than 2 million households that had not restored power.
Starting at 3 in the morning on the 16th, the apartment rented by the reporter started a power outage, and the power outage lasted more than 40 hours. At the same time, Wi-Fi, cable TV, and landline phones were also disrupted, and signals from cell phones and mobile networks were also intermittent.
Many apartments in the United States depend on electricity for lighting, heating, and cooking. The absence of electricity means cold and hunger. 24 hours after the blackout, the ambient temperature in the reporter’s apartment dropped to 12 degrees Celsius. To make matters worse, the tap water also stopped starting on the 17th.
In fact, compared to many Texans, the reporter is lucky. The homes of some Texans were without electricity and water on the 15th. Some people went to live with family and friends who still had electricity or could use gas for cooking, while some homeless people were placed in prevention centers. cold opened by the government.
As of the 15th, some service stations and supermarkets in Houston were closed due to power outages and vehicles lined up at the gates of the service stations that were still operating. On the 17th, the reporter saw in a supermarket that most of the drinking water had been stolen. One gallon (approximately 3.8 liters) of drinking water was limited to two barrels per person. Food such as bread, cooked food, canned food, etc. almost sold out.
Texas Governor Abbott delivered a speech on the 17th, saying that the Texas power grid has increased power supply by 6,000 megawatts, which can power approximately 1.2 million homes. Electricity is also being transmitted from the southern nuclear power plant and thermal power plant, and is expected to restore power to 400,000 inhabitants.
However, as to when the power supply can be fully restored, Abbott and the Texas Department of Energy have yet to provide a precise timeline.
The weather forecast shows that there are still cold currents in the Houston area from the 18th to the 19th, and the nighttime temperature will be as low as minus 6 to 7 degrees Celsius.
【Correction error】
【Editor in charge: Zhan Jing】
