'Hazardous roadways': 2 dead, 250,000 left without power in Texas as ice storm continues to wreak havoc
AUSTIN, TEXAS: Wednesday morning, February 1, was extra chilly for more than 250,000 residents as they were left without power in Texas State. This comes as winter weather brings ice to the wider part of the United States and as expected by many, thousands of flights were canceled or delayed in the last couple of days. The icy conditions have severely impacted roads and several crashes were reported after it brought traffic to a complete halt.
As per several reports, two deaths have been confirmed due to catastrophic weather. Austin Fire Department informed that numerous auto collisions in the region, with one fatality. Things are ‘a bit out of hand’ in Travis County, Texas, which comes under Austin, as police and sheriff’s deputies are rushing to the scene with new crashes every three minutes since 8 am, Tuesday, January 31, as per Austin-Travis County Traffic Report Page.
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What is the current scenario?
Texas Governor, Greg Abbott addressed the current outages problem and clarified that the real cause of worry is not the functioning of the Texas power grid, but the ice on power lines or downed trees. He said, “The power grid, itself, is functioning very efficiently as we speak right now, and there is not anticipated to be any challenge to the power grid in the state of Texas, according to CBS News. It's important to remember that local outages are not a reason to say there is a problem with the power grid." Amid several road accidents due to ice storms, Abbott reminded the residents, "The roadways are very hazardous right now. We cannot overemphasize that."
'A state of emergency’
On Tuesday, January 31, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Governor of Arkansas state announced a state of emergency because of the ice storm. In her declaration, Sanders reasoned the "likelihood of numerous downed power lines" and added road conditions have further added to the ongoing misery by creating serious a backlog of deliveries by commercial vehicles. Forrest City area’s fire department, that Interstate 40 was ice-coated and ‘extremely hazardous’, and it severely impacted the movement of goods since it is one of the main thoroughfares through Arkansas.
Division Chief Jeremy Sharp said, “The department responded to two bad wrecks and about 15 other crashes Tuesday morning. They hit the ice and they start wrecking. When I-40 shuts down like that, that can be hours of waiting,"
John Gadberry, Colt, Arkansas, a resident who lives close to the highway added, "I-40 is usually one of the first things that freeze over due to its slight elevation.