Texans are still struggling with a set of brutal and record-breaking winter storms that have left millions this week without power and now some without water. Although power was restored to most people on Wednesday, as of Thursday morning about half a million were still in the dark, trying to fend off the deadly cold. Residents received notices to boil their water because water treatment plants had gone offline, but the notices only applied to those lucky enough to have running water. The Texas Commissioner on Environmental Quality, Toby Baker announced that on Wednesday, “there were 332 local water systems reporting impacts in 110 counties across the state, 276 issued boil water notices.” Millions of Texans in major cities like Houston, Fort Worth, and Arlington were ordered to boil their water before drinking. Incarcerated people in Texas jails and prisons are particularly vulnerable as reports emerged of freezing indoor temperatures and no hot food or running water. 

While Texas Governor Greg Abbott has been blaming renewable energy sources like wind turbines for the power outages, there has been push back even in mainstream news sources pointing out that the state’s deregulated energy grid that failed to prepare for winter conditions is to blame and that natural gas and oil pipelines have frozen. Gov. Abbott is now facing calls to resign. Texas Democratic Party chair Gilberto Hinojosa released a statement saying, “Millions of Texans are without power in freezing temperatures, many of them for the last 60 hours. At least 21 Texans have died. Their blood is on Abbott’s hands.” Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas is also facing calls to resign after a journalist posted a photo of him traveling to Cancun. Cruz confirmed his trip and released a statement saying he was only “wanting to be a good dad,” in flying to Cancun with his children and that he would be returning to Texas in the face of public outrage. And, former Texas Governor and Donald Trump’s Energy Secretary Rick Perry is under fire for suggesting that Texans would be willing to sacrifice their lives in order to prevent their failing energy system from being overseen by the federal government. He said, “Texans would be without electricity for longer than three days to keep the federal government out of their business.”  

Other parts of the United States are also struggling with extreme cold weather, including Oregon where about 150,000 people were without power, heat, internet and other necessities.