Texas, the state with the most people without electricity 1:51
(CNN) -
As winter storms and freezing temperatures continue to wreak havoc in Texas, many have to fight to survive.
Millions in the state are without power Wednesday, doing their best to stay warm and dry as burst pipes flood homes.
These are just a few of the struggles some Texans said they face during this winter crisis.
Many have no heat
Timothy Wilsey, his wife Nicole and their 7-year-old son have been without power for 72 hours.
The family, who resides in Euless, Texas, said they use their cars to heat themselves and to charge batteries and phones, which Wilsey described as "their only lines of communication."
Wilsey said the family is only using their phones to quickly check the news and search for restaurants that may be open and serving food.
The family mostly lies "under the covers in bed" in their apartment, which is only heated by candles, Timothy said.
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"We keep busy going reading books and playing board games," Wilsey told CNN via text message.
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In Portland, Texas, Brianna Blake told CNN's Chris Cuomo on Wednesday that she and her husband kept their children warm using household items like firewood, including artwork and fences, as they dealt with 36 hours of no heat in their home.
"I started taking my canvases from the wall, tearing them up and throwing them into the fire," he said.
In Irving, Texas, Kimberly Hampton and her family of five initially thought they could cope with the power outages at their home.
But Hampton said no amount of blankets could keep them warm.
The family lost power at 3:30 am Monday and the thermostat in the house quickly dropped to -3 degrees Celsius.
Hampton said she was able to get some firewood from Home Depot to start a fire and melt frozen breast milk in room temperature water for her 7-month-old baby and her 3-year-old twins.
On Tuesday, when asked how the night had passed, Hampton said it got worse and he was feeling colder.
"We have run out of firewood and there is none available nearby," he told CNN.
“My husband will have to go buy formula because all my frozen milk is spoiling.
My other kids are desperate and don't understand why it's cold or why they can't watch TV or eat a hot meal.
To help with the cold, Hampton said the family "closed the bedrooms and stuffed towels into the door spaces and used blankets to cover all of our windows as best we could."
“We have a generator, but we run out of gas extremely quickly.
The children are all bundled up in three layers of clothing, jackets, and shoes.
And basically we've all been lying on top of each other sharing body heat.
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In San Antonio, Texas, Claudia and Eder Lemus were lucky enough to regain energy Wednesday night after trying to keep their three young children warm with fire, layers of clothing and blankets.
They even turned on the stove, an unconventional way to keep warm that carries its own risks of carbon monoxide poisoning.
As a military family, Claudia said the family had lived all over the United States and even abroad in places with a lot of snow.
"We never thought it was going to be like this," he said.
“We have lived in Virginia, where there is a lot of snow.
We have lived abroad, in Korea, where there is a lot of snow, and we never anticipated that the city would become so paralyzed because of this.
Ángel García and his family in Killeen, Texas, have been rationing oxygen tanks for their 5-month-old son, who was born with premature lungs.
Garcia, a nurse, is constantly watching him, he said.
The family lost power to their home Monday night and was running out of firewood, so they burned some of their 3-year-old daughter's toy blocks in the fireplace, he said.
«Many people do not know the seriousness of what is happening.
People are tearing down their fences to have something to burn, "Garcia said through tears.
"We started burning my daughter's little wooden blocks because it was too cold."
She says she hopes people will realize how bad the situation is, in a state where people are not used to this kind of cold weather.
"Not everyone has gas, but we waited in line for about an hour and we were finally able to get some gas," Garcia said.
There is practically nowhere to go.
Everyone in Texas is in the same boat.
If they have electricity, there is no water.
If they have water, there is no electricity.