Frigid temperatures - down to -18 ° -, deaths, frozen pipes, power cuts, icy roads and distressed motorists ... This is the terrible equation that everyone had to face. part of the week, the people of Texas.
They faced the worst cold snap on record since 1909. Joe Biden, the US President, declared a state of major disaster on Saturday.
“
The federal government has sent generators, blankets, water and other essential supplies
,” he tweeted.
As the sun makes its comeback, residents begin to measure the incredible extent of the damage.
Read also: Texas microchip factories close because of the cold
The human toll is heavy.
Carbon monoxide poisoning, road accidents, drownings, house fires or even hypothermia ... At least 58 people have lost their lives according to the
New York Times.
The final toll may not be known for weeks.
Hospitals, also affected by the blackouts, have had difficulty taking care of patients.
In North Texas, in Abilene, a man died because he was unable to receive his dialysis on time.
Homeless people were found frozen to death, as were people stranded in their cars.
An 11-year-old boy, Christian Pavon, died in his bed on Tuesday, in his family's unheated mobile home in Conroe.
There were also many domestic accidents.
For example, people who burn charcoal inside their homes have been poisoned.
This icy week was marked by a first scandal: the power cuts.
Texas is not connected to one of the country's two federal networks - East and West -.
It claims its energy independence, its own system.
But he did not hold.
At least 4.5 million users, out of a population of over 28 million, have been deprived of electricity.
In question, in particular the gas which froze in the power stations.
Some also accuse the wind turbines - not up to standard - of having also been paralyzed.
This Saturday, "
the worst is behind us,
" said representatives of the state electricity operator.
60,000 homes were still plunged into darkness.
Half of Texans are still facing another crisis: that of access to drinking water.
For some residents, it is the plumbing that is out of order.
The pipes froze and broke.
Others, even when the faucet is running, have to boil the water, to kill bacteria.
“
When the pressure drops dramatically, you can't maintain the quality standards
,” Sarah Rountree Schlessinger, CEO of the Texas Water Foundation, told local newspaper
The Texas Tribune
.
Authorities improvise to allow residents to fill bottles and cans.
They are sometimes forced to queue for hours.
The queue to get drinking water.
JUSTIN SULLIVAN / AFP
