Texas residents line-up to fetch water amid power outage

The excessive cold has sent energy demand skyrocketing. In Texas, 4.3 million customers were without electricity as of 8:45 p.m. Eastern, according to poweroutage.us, ahead of what was expected to be one of the state’s coldest nights on record, with most areas falling to the single digits or lower.

At least one person, a homeless man in Harris County, had died from suspected exposure to the cold, the Weather Channel reported.

Officials urged residents not to travel, as social media videos proliferated of cars and trucks sliding down roads out of control.

According to operators, the bulk of the power loss in Texas came from natural gas suppliers as pipelines froze, making it difficult for plants to get the fuel they needed.

Electricity is normally used to pump water into the homes of residents but since the outage, many have resorted to seeking alternative ways of accessing their daily needs.

In a video shared online by abc reporter, Erica Simon, citizens could be seen in a queue holding buckets and dispenser containers as they fetched water from a borehole tap.

Sharing the video, Erica Simon wrote;

This is not a third world country. This is Houston, Texas. I spotted a line of people filing up buckets of water from a spicket at Haden Park. Why? Millions either have no water or are under a Boil Water Advisory.

Watch the video below;

This is not a third world country. This is Houston, Texas. I spotted a line of people filing up buckets of water from a spicket at Haden Park. Why? Millions either have no water or are under a Boil Water Advisory. pic.twitter.com/VHYH5Hbqjj

— Erica Simon (@EricaOnABC13) February 18, 2021