Dwell Updates: Texans face ingesting water shortage

Texas Governor Greg Abbott is keeping a press convention Friday.

explore Governor Abbott’s press convention this day

• What: Texas Governor Greg Abbott holds press convention 
• Date: Friday, February 19, 2021 
• Time: 4 p.m. ET; 3 p.m. native time
• Online dawdle: Dwell on CBSN in the player above and on your mobile or streaming tool

Display camouflage: Streaming plans are discipline to replace.

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is from Novel York, however she is focusing on Texas this week. Ocasio-Cortez reacted to the dire disaster in the affirm by increasing a fundraiser, which as of Thursday had raised $1 million, she acknowledged.

Ocasio-Cortez acknowledged 100% of donations will tear to The Bridge Homeless Restoration Center, Ending Neighborhood Homeless Coalition, Family Eldercare, Houston Meals Financial institution and Feeding Texas.

Learn more right here.

The stop legitimate at Texas’ energy grid acknowledged the system modified into “seconds and minutes” away from leaving residents without energy for months.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas bought intense criticism for leaving some 4 million customers without energy this week. Invoice Magness, the president and CEO of the council, informed the Texas Tribune on Wednesday that it would per chance enjoy all been worthy worse.

Magness informed the outlet that grid operators acted rapidly to scale again the amount of energy dispensed on Monday – and in the event that they’d no longer, Texas would per chance enjoy suffered blackouts that “would per chance enjoy occurred for months” and left the affirm in an “indeterminately lengthy” crisis.

“It desired to be addressed in an instant,” acknowledged Magness. “It modified into seconds and minutes [from possible failure] given the amount of workmanship that modified into coming off the system.”

Learn more right here.

Firefighters in San Antonio battled a huge blaze at an residence advanced without the again of hydrants Thursday evening. Crews needed to raise water to the scene, the set fire hydrants had been frozen shut.

CBS affiliate KENS-TV confirmed photos of a fireplace truck dumping water correct into a makeshift pool in a automobile parking spot. A various truck would pump water from the pool into hoses.

“There’s a hydrant correct in front of the constructing, it be frozen stiff and no longer one in all the hydrants out right here work, and so that they’re all frozen,” Bexar-Bulverde Volunteer Fireplace Department Chief Jerry Bialick informed WOAI-TV.

Bialick informed the sphere firefighters would exhaust hundreds of gallons of water in a subject of minutes.

Neighbors informed KENS-TV the constructing’s 130 residents made it out safely.

President Biden says he’s making a predominant distress declaration for Texas that can obvious the components for more federal resources, and he plans to head to the affirm at a time when he couldn’t be interfering with the distress response.

The distress declaration will free up more Federal Emergency Management Agency resources for Texas. The president acknowledged he’ll imprint the declaration Friday, after he signed an emergency declaration for the affirm 5 days previously.

The president additionally acknowledged he plans to head to Texas however needs to abet till his presence couldn’t be a burden or hinder the distress relief response.

Learn more right here.

Texas’ grid operators acknowledged Friday that the electrical system has returned to same outdated.

Smaller outages level-headed remained Friday. But Invoice Magness, president of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, says the grid again has ample skill to assemble energy all over your complete system.

The performing head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency acknowledged he’s skittish about of us staying warm in Texas. With subfreezing temperatures anticipated Friday evening, performing Administrator Bob Fenton told of us to head to shelters or warming stations in the event that they level-headed fabricate no longer enjoy heat.

“When you is probably going to be cool, fabricate no longer beget for your condominium, tear to one in all the warming stations,” Fenton acknowledged on “CBS This Morning.”

Fenton acknowledged his company modified into in the affirm offering presents like blankets, gasoline, meals and water.

Fenton inspired of us whose property modified into broken in the intense weather to battle via their insurance protection provider first earlier than seeking support from the federal authorities. Texans may per chance net support from the authorities if President Biden points a predominant distress declaration for the affirm.

Some Texans are going to be dealing with surprisingly high electric bills.

Most residents enter into one in all two styles of contracts with vitality suppliers: the next mounted rate or variable. With variable, customers seize the probability and pays low rates when quiz is low and better rates when quiz rises.

Houston resident Meghan O’Neill paid over $2,000 in two days. Her February invoice is now more than $3,000.

“Or no longer it’s like, OK, cease I feed my household or cease I bustle the heat, which one cease I cease?” O’Neill acknowledged.

Joshua Rhodes, an vitality expert at the University of Texas, acknowledged that those with mounted rates may per chance additionally pay more at some point.

“That cease will seize later as, , utilities and the like assess, , what quantity of cash that they must recoup,” Rhodes acknowledged. “… Finally the client regularly pays, , more or less at the stop of this.”

The San Antonio Water System introduced Thursday that this may per chance delivery up offering water distribution at seven pump areas spherical the metropolis. Residents will net up to 5 gallons per person and are told to boil the water they net as a precautionary measure.

The Metropolis of San Antonio and the San Antonio Meals Financial institution will additionally provide bottled water distribution at net sites spherical the metropolis.

San Antonio has skilled water outages because of the the winter weather emergency, and the San Antonio Water System on Wednesday issued a boil water advisory for customers who level-headed enjoy access to water.

As American citizens yearn for his or her pre-pandemic lives, the distribution of coronavirus vaccines is hitting delays as winter storms pummel the U.S. The illness has no longer most attention-grabbing impacted how American citizens live, however how lengthy. Jonathan Vigliotti reports for “CBS Evening Recordsdata.” 

As of Friday afternoon, 43 deaths had been linked to the intense winter weather across six states.

Essentially the most deaths had been recorded in Texas, with 27 residents demise from storm-linked incidents. Here is the set they occurred: Harris County, which contains Houston, (14), Taylor County (6), Sugarland (4), Galveston County (2) and San Antonio (1).

Earlier this week, a grandmother and three young of us had been killed in a condominium fire in Sugarland. Metropolis officers acknowledged the neighborhood had been without energy. The explanation for the fire is below investigation.