Millions are still without power as winter storms continue

All of Wednesday’s remaining flights at Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport in Texas have been canceled or diverted as the region continues to struggle with water supply issues following the winter storm.

In a pair of tweets, airport officials say they are working to restore the water supply to the entire airport, even in a limited capacity, Wednesday afternoon.

“For now, all flights have been canceled or diverted for the remainder of the day,” Houston Hobby’s tweets say. “Our team is manually providing non-consumable water to airport restrooms from portable water storage tanks.”

Entergy, a power company for Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, says that about 40,000 of its customers in Louisiana are still without power as a result of the winter storms that swept the area, according to a statement.

The outages are “primarily in the hardest hit areas of Greater Baton Rouge, Livingston and Tangipahoa parishes,” the company said.

Entergy also encouraged their customers in northern Louisiana “to monitor another system of snow and ice that is forecast to impact our state throughout the day today and into Thursday.”

On Monday, Entergy reported that 24,600 of its customers were without power in the state.

City of Richardson workers prepare to work on a water main pipe that burst due to extreme cold on February 17 in Richardson, Texas.

The current Arctic blast and series of winter storms are likely to cost multiple billion dollars in damages and will require a “prolonged period of damage assessment to property and agriculture across several states,” according to Steve Bowen, head of Catastrophe Insight at Aon.  

He warns that there are still significant impacts yet to come, “as temperatures start to warm in Texas, it is expected that we will see more instances of pipes bursting…we aren’t quite at the point yet to be talking about damage in the past tense.”

The last US winter storm to cause multiple billion dollars in damages came from a series of nor’easters impacting the East Coast in March 2018, with $2.3 billion in economic loss.

This week’s winter weather could top the $3.3 billion economic loss from the February 2015 cold wave and winter storm that left Boston under feet of snow and clogged Northeast transportation corridors. 

Customers use the light from a cell phone to look in the meat section of a grocery store on February 16 in Dallas, Texas.

Later during Wednesday’s briefing, when asked about Texas’ weather, White House press secretary Jen Psaki underscored how resilient infrastructure will be necessary to deal with climate change and create new jobs. She also pushed back on suggestions that renewable energy resources were to blame for the blackouts.

Psaki also pushed back on “some inaccurate accusations out there” about “renewables” – namely, frozen wind turbines – being the main reason for Texas power outages.

“Actually, numerous reports of actually showing the contrary, that it was failures in coal and natural gas that contributed to the state’s power shortages. And officials at the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the state’s power grid, have gone so far as to say that failures in wind and solar were the least significant factors in the blackouts,” she said.

The National Weather Service warned that “potential is increasing for significant icing” in parts of the Mid-Atlantic as a winter storm that hammered the Southeast moves north.

There’s a probability for more than 0.10 inches of ice now through Friday in some parts of Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland and other states in the region.

The National Weather Service tweeted a map of the probable icing in response to a tweet from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management urging residents to prepare for the ice storm.

Timothy Wilsey, his wife Nicole and his 7-year-old son have been without power for 72 hours, and they have been forced to use their cars for warmth and to charge battery packs and phones, “their only lines of communication.”

The Euless, Texas, family said their apartment is currently only heated by candles.

“We are keeping busy by going old school and reading books and playing board games,” he told CNN by text message from Euless, a suburb of Dallas and Fort Worth.

Timothy says they’re only using their phones to quickly look at the news, so they can stay updated on the power outage situation, and to look for restaurants that may be open and serving food.  

“We are mostly laying under covers in bed,” Timothy said. “The only time we leave the bed is to go to the car to warm up or charge the phones and battery packs.”

They put the food they could save from their freezer on their patio so it would stay warmer, but have no other way to cook food. The food they do have is largely limited to beef sticks, beef jerky, chips and some cookies; as for things to drink, they have bottled water and some bottled tea, but that is it.

“Other they [sic] that we are hoping the restaurants are open and serving hot food,” he said. “Sorry, hard to type while your hands are cold.”

CNN wants to hear your story about what you’re experiencing during this extreme winter weather. Share your story with us here.

Dan Woodfin, ERCOT Senior Director of System Operations, said more neighborhoods have power today because temperatures are warmer than they were yesterday.

He said the Electric Reliability Council of Texas has been able to restore 1000 megawatts, so they are now shedding 13,000 megawatts of load on the ERCOT system.

Woodfin said the numbers bounce around because they are trying to restore the maximum amount of power to the consumer.

“I say all that to illustrate that as generation becomes available, we’re utilizing it to the maximum amount possible to restore consumers as soon as we can. And if we ultimately have to increase then the outages back up, then it’s not okay, but it still allows them to be served for some interim period,” he said.

Woodfin also explained that even though Texas operates its own grid, there is “a limited number of direct current ties that allows a specific amount of power to be transferred between Texas and other grids.”

The ties can import or export power from the eastern part of the United States and Mexico.

“So early in this event we were importing power on all of those ties, but then regions outside of ERCOT wound up starting to have emergencies because of the severe cold weather as well,” Woodfin said.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a press briefing on February 17 in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC.

The White House and Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, are monitoring the situation in Texas after winter weather left millions without power this week, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday. 

FEMA, she said, has supplied generators in Texas and is “preparing to move diesel into the state to ensure the continued availability of backup power” for critical infrastructure, including communications, hospitals, and water. The agency is also supplying Texas with water and blankets at the state’s request.  

The White House is standing by to process requests from additional states impacted by the winter storms. 

“We’re preparing to quickly process requests from other states for emergency assistance, that’s how the process typically works, and we urge people in the affected states to of course listen to their emergency management officials,” she said.

Unprecedented winter storms have blanketed Texas, causing bitter cold temperatures and widespread power outages throughout much of the state.

President Biden has declared a state of emergency, which makes people eligible for federal assistance. Still, the need for help is immediate as many struggle to find shelter, food, and warmth in these dangerous freezing conditions.

Here you can help:

You can donate to any of the organizations listed above by clicking this link.

A United Airlines jet is towed at George Bush Intercontinental Airport on February 16 in Houston, Texas.

More than 2,300 flights have been canceled into, or out of the US today, according to the flight tracking website flightaware.com. 

This includes over a thousand flights in and out of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field, and over 700 flights in and out of Houston’s Bush-Intercontinental and Hobby airports. 

The Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, which was closed earlier today, has reopened. Flights are expected to begin at 1 p.m. CT, according to the airport’s Twitter page.

Regional airports in Abilene, Texas, and Jackson, Mississippi, remain closed due to snow and ice.

The more than 2,300 canceled flights today are on top of over 2,800 canceled yesterday. Another 500 flights have already been canceled for tomorrow, a number which will grow as snow begins to impact the major metropolitan areas in the Northeast by late tomorrow.

Shreveport, Louisiana, has been hit with the same arctic temperatures, ice and snow, making dangerous travel conditions, even for National Weather Service Employees covering the storm.

“Most of the city has power at the moment but even that is looking doubtful with this current storm we are dealing with,” says NWS meteorologist Michael Berry in Shreveport.

He’s worked for the Shreveport office for 30 years and says this is the worst he’s seen. “Never in my career has my office been filled with cots and sleeping bags for stranded employees who don’t want to risk driving home in this mess,” says Berry.

They just learned of Shreveport’s second fatality from the cold yesterday afternoon.

“That number will likely rise significantly once people are able to get out and account for the elderly and homeless unfortunately,” says Berry. 

Transmission towers and power lines lead to a substation on February 16 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Bill Magness, the CEO of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), said in a Webex briefing that he knows everybody wants to know when the power outages will end.

He said ERCOT is “working around the clock” to get more power back on, but restoring service depends on two factors. 

“There was an enormous amount of electric generation – and it’s the supply side that provides the power into the equation – that was taken out of service by the storm,” Magness said, adding the storm also had a “freezing impact on the natural gas supply” which affected the ability of gas generators to produce at full output.

“So what we are avoiding, and the reason that we are in this situation is that we risked that catastrophic blackout at one in the morning on Monday, and we had to reduce the demand to get the supply and demand back and balanced. And we’ve been working to get that balance back, so we can operate the system reliably and safely going forward,” Magness added, saying that means the outages so far have lasted longer “than anyone would want.”

The second factor, Magness said, is the weather.

Issues like freezing wind turbine blades and other generating resources that froze and needed to be thawed will be helped by the weather warming up. Additionally, transporting skilled personnel and fuel will be easier to do when there isn’t as much ice and snow on the road. 

“So the work that needs to be done to get those resources back in place is going to be easier to do as the weather warms,” Magness said.

Magness said that demand will go down as the weather warms up as well. 

“The reason that the demand has stayed as high as it has all week is that we’ve had this frigid weather so the people who were using electricity are using a lot more of it than they typically would,” Magness said.

Millions are enduring a deadly winter storm without power and during extremely low temperatures. Staying safe can be a challenge.

Here are some things you can do to prevent hypothermia and frostbite:

Hypothermia: This happens after you have been exposed to very cold temperatures for a prolonged period of time and your body loses heat faster than it is produced. This low body temperature can affect your brain, causing you not to think clearly, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Being aware of the signs of hypothermia is critical because you might not realize it is happening.

Warning signs:

What to do: If you are not able to get medical help right away, start with trying to warm the person up.

Frostbite: This can lead to a loss of feeling and color in your body – typically your extremities like your nose, ears, cheeks, fingers or toes. The CDC says you may not notice you have frostbite until someone else points it out because the frozen parts of your body will be numb.

Warning signs:

What to do: The CDC says you should get medical care right away, but in an instance where a person is showing signs of frostbite and not hypothermia and you cannot get medical care, here’s what you can do:

Remember: These tips are not substitutes for proper medical care. Hypothermia is a medical emergency and frostbite should be looked at by a doctor. Get medical care as soon as you can safely.

Winter storms in Kentucky have caused “physical damage to the infrastructure that transmits and delivers electricity to households” and some residents still might not have power by the end of the week, state officials say.  

“Our issues are different than what they’re facing in Texas, though some of the natural gas is impacting some of our cities,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said at a storm briefing. 

In Kentucky, the bigger concern “is the infrastructure, especially in Eastern Kentucky and the hit that it’s taken and the amount of time it’s going to take to get it back online,” the governor said.

More than 96,000 customers were without power on Thursday morning, state officials said. 

“No matter how well prepared [we are] for significant events, power outages and transmission issues are a product of ice storms,” said Michael Dossett, executive director of the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management. 

“Electric companies have activated their mutual aid system” and in some counties base camps have been established where “all the power companies will be onboard working to bring the power back,” Dossett said. 

There are several steps crews must take to repair damaged power lines, said Dossett.  

Crews must first assess the lines, “they physically need to walk many of these because of the dangerous conditions, the downed trees and the significant impacts in getting to the power lines,” according to Dossett. 

Crews must also prioritize the sites depending on how many households are connected to a specific circuit, Dossett said.  

Because of this “households can experience on again and off again service because they routinely have to take down a major circuit to provide repairs to a feeder circuit, and then energize that area again,” Dossett said.  

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is preparing to begin distributing 60 generators, millions of liters of water and tens of thousands of blankets in Texas starting today, according to a FEMA source. 

More shipments are expected in the coming days and weeks. 

FEMA Region 6, which includes Texas, told CNN the agency is “coordinating with the Texas Division of Emergency Management to facilitate requests for generators, blankets, bottled water and shelf stable meals.” 

Biden approved an emergency declaration for the state over the weekend. 

Over 3.3 million customers are without power in the state, with the greatest number in the Houston area.

As millions of Texans face power outages during winter storms, Steve Adler, the mayor of Austin, Texas, said the return of power for residents depends on how soon the state can bring its power generation plants online and it could take days.

He acknowledged that Texas needs to prepare to face extreme weather conditions more frequently.

“I’m in a community right now that is scared, frustrated, confused, angry and I am, too,” he added. “The state grid has failed us. We weren’t ready for sustained weather of 18 below zero. We need to be. These extreme weather conditions are happening much more frequently and we were not prepared.”

Adler also addressed and criticized comments from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, calling it “outrageous” to make the conversation about renewable energy and blaming the power failures on green policies during an interview with Fox News.

“The statement is not true to start off with,” Adler said. “We want our governor focused on getting us power and on restarting the grid, to find out what it is with ERCOT that made this happen.”

Watch:

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The San Antonio Fire Department confirmed to CNN that the power outages and cold weather are affecting their ability to put out fires.   

San Antonio Fire Department spokesperson Joseph Arrington said that frozen hydrants, as well as power outages affecting pump stations, are causing “challenges” with water pressure. That’s ultimately hampering their efforts to put out fires as they find ways to work around it.

For instance, Arrington said that instead of trying to aggressively knock down the fire inside, they’ve had to transition to a more exterior, defensive approach because of water pressure issues.  

“Our normal attack would involve multiple hoses and lots of water on the fire, so we’ve obviously just had to adjust,” he said.  

Elsa Lightbourn appears to have witnessed the new approach firefighters have been forced to take in video she took of a fire in her San Antonio apartment complex. Arrington confirmed that firefighters responded to a fire in the leasing office around 6:30 a.m. 

“Crews found heavy fire in the attic area of the building, made an attempt at an interior offensive attack but were forced to back out and go defensive due to low water pressures,” he said. “Some crews remain on scene clearing up hot spots.”

Local health officials are bracing for delays in Covid-19 vaccine delivery caused by the winter storms sweeping the South, Lori Tremmel Freeman, chief executive officer of the National Association of County and City Health Officials, told CNN on Wednesday.

“I don’t believe that it’s anticipated it will have long-reaching outcomes, but certainly for the next week to two weeks, we might expect to see some impact from the weather,” Freeman said.

Freeman said that weather-related concerns were discussed briefly during a phone call that local health officials had with the Biden administration on Tuesday.

CNN Politics editor Joe Ruiz is in San Antonio, Texas, where he is without power and getting very little data connection through his phone provider. He has water in his home and is using extra blankets to stay warm.

Ruiz described what the scene has been like in San Antonio as the city continues to battle power shortages and winter conditions.

“Any restaurant that was open had crazy lines in their drive thru. Pipes bursting all over the city. We’ve been lucky,” he continued.

Ruiz said they’ve received “very little communication” from power providers and state nonprofit Electric Reliability Council of Texas, know as ERCOT.

Ruiz said there were also lines to get into HEB, a Texas-based grocery store chain, and Walmart.

“Target yesterday looked apocalyptic with flashing lights and trying to get people through registers to no avail,” Ruiz described.

See his tweet from a local San Antonio Target:

White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients, center, speaks during a news briefing on February 17.

The extreme winter weather across the South has delayed Covid-19 vaccine deliveries and paused some vaccinations at various sites, White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said during a news briefing on Wednesday.

“There are certain parts of the country – Texas being one of them – where vaccination sites are understandably closed,” Zients said. “What we’re encouraging governors and other partners to do is to extend hours once they’re able to reopen.”

Zients added that, specifically, some time has been lost for getting needles into arms across some states due to the weather.

This southern storm system will head for the Northeast by Thursday and bring more of the white stuff with it.

Two areas of low pressure, which are the driving force of this wintry weather, will travel up the East Coast, one after the other.

“It is looking more and more like an all or mostly all-snow event for most [of southern New England]. Not expecting a heavy snow scenario this time either, but more a prolonged light, sometimes moderate snow event,” says the National Weather Service (NWS) office in Boston.

For the timing of the snow in the Northeast read more here

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear speaks during a press conference in Frankfort, Kentucky, on February 17.

During this wave of winter weather, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said he is happy the state “had a relatively quiet night and overnight with no major incidents.” 

“We have now made it through two winter storms, with a third about to hit us,” Gov. Beshear said at a storm briefing Thursday.  

 The governor stressed, however, that the state is not yet in the clear.  

“There are about 96,000 outages for Kentucky utility customers. The maximum outage during the severe weather was more than 154,000,” Beshear said. 

The Kentucky National Guard continues to assist state police in 10 counties, said Beshear. 

“They’re working with local officials to transport citizens to warming centers and shelters, they’re providing crews to transport medical staff, and they’re working with the Kentucky Division of Forestry to assist with debris removal,”Beshear said. 

“Even with a bit of a break in whether it’s still important to limit travel,” emphasized the governor. 

On Friday, the state’s regional vaccination centers are going to stay open, “regardless of what the weather does tonight,” according to Beshear. 

Regional vaccine sites are scheduled to open at 10 a.m. ET Friday, said the governor. 

If you are trying to stay warm during the winter storm, but don’t have power, be careful when using generators or other heat sources.

Carbon monoxide is a gas that has no odor, color or taste. You wouldn’t be able to see or smell it, but it can be very dangerous to your health and even fatal.

If there is too much carbon monoxide in the air you are breathing, your ability to absorb oxygen can be diminished, resulting in serious tissue damage, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Common sources of carbon monoxide:

What to watch for: The initial symptoms are flu-like, but without a fever. They may include dull headache, weakness, dizziness and nausea. High-level poisoning can result in vomiting, shortness of breath, confusion, blurred vision and loss of consciousness.

Here’s how to heat your home safely:

John Henderson’s power first went out yesterday morning and stayed off for 2 hours, came back on around 7 p.m. last night, then was back off again around midnight and hasn’t been on since, he said.

What he’s most concerned about right now though, is his wife’s health—she had a stroke last year, her second in three years, and is still recovering.

“She’s got terrible breathing problems, obviously,” he said.

Henderson said his wife is complaining that her throat hurts currently and is having a little trouble using portable oxygen tanks because her normal machine works better for her.

He said the San Antonio Fire Department has come by twice to refill her tanks. She has one large tank that lasts 24 hours and two smaller ones.

Without the fire department, Henderson said they would have driven to the ER “even with the roads bad, luckily for us, we don’t live too far from one.”

Two days ago the San Antonio Fire Department started refilling resident’s O2 bottles because residents were calling 911 running out of their home supply and couldn’t get refills from their vendors, Joseph Arrington, SAFD spokesperson told CNN in a statement.

“Currently we have 4 SAFD vehicles responding city wide to provide this service to as many folks as we can, as long as we have supply,” Arrington said. “As of this morning we have provided this service at least 130 times with many more waiting in the queue.”

Henderson said the family doesn’t have any hot food or a way to cook right now.

“Been eating sandwiches while the power is out and cooking when it’s on. We’ve got some stuff for tuna salad and some hot dogs that don’t need cooking. Hoping it comes back on soon so we can eat breakfast,” he said.

Henderson said his asthmatic son and mother are also living with them in the home.

“We’re making due and staying inside waiting on power,” he said. “We count ourselves as blessed nonetheless. There are a lot of folks worse off than us.”

The family is doing their best to keep the cold air out of the apartment home by stuffing blanket near windows.

“Apartment wasn’t made to handle this kind of weather,” he said.

In the event that power isn’t restored soon, Henderson said they will rely on the fire department to make rounds again. Henderson’s power returned as of 10:15 am CT, he’s hoping they stay on with no further interruption but prepared to make another trip to the grocery store in case it doesn’t.

“I’ll go buy some more bread and some things we don’t have to cook,” he said. “Might get some charcoal and lighter fluid and use one of our apartment’s bbq grills to cook. Really nothing to do but wait it out. We’re survivors. Worst case scenario: we’ll have to go to a hotel. Can’t really afford that option for an extended period.”

Right now, the storm stretches from the Gulf Coast to the Upper Midwest. 

Snow is falling from North Louisiana snow East Texas, all the way to portions of Minnesota. 

The heaviest snowfall will impact the Arkansas-Louisiana-Texas region during the next few hours. 

Freezing rain and sleet are impacting the Houston area and much of East Texas and Louisiana from I-20 south to I-10.

The Houston Mayor’s Office announced a boil water notice for the Texas city of over two million as winter weather left millions without power and burst water pipes. 

In a tweet, the office advised residents who do not have power to drink bottled water instead. 

The mayor’s office also said that the city’s public works department has received reports of low water pressure but expects “to have stabilized pressures back into the operational range before the end of the day on Thursday.” 

American Airlines Center is seen on February 15 in Dallas, Texas.

More sporting events across the region affected by the extreme weather are being postponed this week due to the conditions.

The Dallas Stars home game against the Tampa Bay Lightning scheduled for Thursday has been postponed due to the continued power outages in the Dallas area caused by severe weather, the NHL announced Wednesday.

This is the third Stars game this week that has been postponed due to the extreme weather and power outages. Make-up dates will be announced as soon as they can be confirmed, the league said.

In college basketball, Thursday’s Texas at Oklahoma and Texas Tech at Texas Christian men’s basketball games have been postponed due to the inclement weather, the Big 12 conference announced Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the NBA postponed the Dallas Mavericks scheduled Wednesday home game vs. Detroit Pistons due to severe winter conditions. The league plans to reschedule the game for later in the season.

Winter weather is continuing to wreak havoc across the US, with forecasts predicting more ice and low temperatures ahead in the most-affected states. More than 3 million customers in Texas are without power, and local officials and residents are furious over the outages.

CNN’s Chad Myers is tracking the storm, and explaining what to expect in the hours ahead. Leave your questions for him using the link below.

As millions of Texans continue to grapple with widespread blackouts, new winter weather alerts from an incoming storm have been posted, and extend from Texas to New England, covering around 125 million Americans.

CNN wants to hear your story about what you’re experiencing during this extreme winter weather. You can share your story in the form below.

And if you’re looking for more resources…

As a deadly winter storm sweeps through the US, millions remain without power in Texas.

About 2.8 million residents in Texas have been in the dark and without heat for much of the winter storms that aren’t letting up soon.

CNN’s Camila Bernal was live in Dallas.

Watch more:

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“Mattress Mack” is being a bright light for the people of Houston, Texas.

Jim McIngvale, known around the city by his nickname, is giving back to the community at a time when millions of people across the state are without power during a frigid winter storm.

The business owner turned two of his furniture stores into temporary warming shelters, opening the doors to anyone who needs it.

“We believe we all have a responsibility for the well-being of the community and when times get tough, we try to open our doors, let Houstonians come in and regroup so they can go out there and hopefully go back to their home with bright lights on,” he told CNN.

McIngvale has a history of giving back to his community. Motivated by his faith, he opened the stores during Hurricane Harvey, offering the large warehouse as a point of refuge for people that lost so much.

He said “there’s no sense in pointing fingers,” but he recognizes that “we’re in a bad situation.” McIngvale said most of the people who are coming to the stores are in vulnerable populations.

“Two groups of people the most traumatized, we have lots of young parents with young children – three, four, five children at a time – and lots of senior citizens, obviously the two most vulnerable groups,” he said.

Watch:

Another winter storm is raking Texas and will menace the Southeast through the Mid-Atlantic today, hitting areas that have already been hard-hit by other winter weather earlier this week.

Here’s what to expect from the storm throughout today:

What comes after that? By Thursday, the storm is expected to drop snow from the Mid-Atlantic to New England.

Millions of Texans woke up to another day without power due to winter storms that have swept most of the nation the past few days.

As of 10:30 a.m. ET, there were at least 3,411,952 outages reported in state. 

Nationwide, a total of 3,796,707 customers are without power according to data from PowerOutage.US. 

Motorists drive on I-35 in Austin, Texas, on February 15.

A driver’s best bet is to stay home when wintry weather coats the roads in snow and ice. For those who must go out, it’s important to plan. AAA recommends motorists pack a winter driving kit that includes:

Here’s some advice for when you’re out on the road:

Parking: Try to ease your vehicle out of parking spaces without spinning the wheels. Drive back and forth for several feet in either direction to clear a path. Spread sand or salt near the wheels if additional traction is needed.

Ice on your vehicle: Iced-over vehicles can limit driver visibility, and ice flying off cars can be hazardous to fellow drivers, so de-ice vehicles before driving.

Driving: If you have to drive in conditions with low visibility, go slowly with your headlights on low beam, AAA advises. Allow at least double the usual following distance between cars. Never use cruise control on a slick surface.

Steering around an obstruction is often safer than braking suddenly at speeds above 25 mph on a slippery surface, according to AAA’s pamphlet “How to Go on Ice and Snow” (PDF).

When you do brake, don’t remove your foot from the brake or pump the pedal if you have anti-lock brakes, AAA advises. Drivers of cars that don’t have anti-lock brakes should keep their heel on the floor and apply firm pressure to the brake pedal to the threshold of locking.

In case of skidding, steer in the direction you want the front of the car to go, keeping your eyes on your travel path. And don’t slam on the brakes; you’re likely to make it harder to get back in control.

Watch these tips in action:

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People line up to fill their empty propane tanks in Houston on February 16.

The dangerous cold outbreak across the Central and Southern US is become noteworthy not just because of the extremely cold temperatures, but also because of the length of time these locations have endured without warming significantly.

Why this matters: The extended cold places even more strain on energy resources as buildings are unable to warm up naturally.

Here is a sample of cold stretches for some locations and where they rank historically:

Jordan Orta found herself sleeping in her car last night with her two-year-old son because it got so cold without power inside her home in San Antonio, Texas.

“A lot of people are losing water in my area and were told that they would be shutting water off for the whole city with no idea when it would be back so we filled up pitchers and tubs of water,” she told CNN. “I went to HEB yesterday and there was no water left so if we lose water it’s all we got until who knows when.”

Orta got power back briefly this morning and were able to briefly warm up until it was shut off again around 8:45 a.m. CT.

“We were without power from Monday morning until about 9 a.m. Tuesday. Then lost it again at 1 p.m. Tuesday, got it back at about 8 pm and then lost it again for night until 5 a.m.,” she said.

“We have a gas stove so we’ve been able to warm up leftovers and cook what we have,” Orta said.

The pair have been eating lots of sandwiches, she said. Her son “doesn’t really know anything is wrong, bless his heart. All he knows is that sometimes the lights don’t work and we have to use the flashlight to go potty. It’s amazing and sad at the same time.”

“He’s not really cold because he’s a busy body and he’s fully dressed. He still wants to go outside and play in what’s left of the snow,” she said.

“HEB shelves were bare like this was the store of Covid again,” she added. “No meat, barely any non-perishables left. The lines were all the way down aisles and wrapped around some stores.”

Orta shared the following photos of how they are conserving water.

Orta spoke with CNN’s Brianna Keilar. Watch the interview:

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A utilities truck drives down a street in McKinney, Texas, during a power outage on February 16.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, known as ERCOT, said some generation is slowly returning and they “hope to reduce outages over the course of the day” today.

Earlier this morning, the agency said they restored power to 600,000 households overnight, but 2.7 million households remain without power.  

Last night, ERCOT cited frigid temperatures as an obstacle to restoring the load. 

“ERCOT is restoring load as fast as we can in a stable manner. Generating units across fuel types continue to struggle with frigid temperatures,” they tweeted.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has called for an investigation into ERCOT. The group’s CEO on Tuesday defended their controlled outages, saying they “kept the grid from collapsing” and sending the state into a complete blackout.

Across the state: AEP Texas, which serves cities such as Corpus Christi and Abilene, says ERCOT has ordered them to shed load again.

“OUTAGE ALERT: @ERCOT has issued an order to AEP Texas to shed load once again. Please prepare for more power outages and expect current power outages to continue. AEP Texas stands ready to restore electric service as soon as power is available. #WeAreAEPTexas,” the electric company said in a tweet.  

This FEMA map, up to date as of this morning, shows states that “have reported COVID-19 vaccination site closures due to the ongoing storms and will reschedule appointments once the storms have passed.”   

These states, highlighted in yellow, are described by FEMA as having “limited impacts: “Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, Louisiana. 

None of the states are in the red, which would mean they are having “significant impacts.”

Florida officials blame winter weather across the country for the shipment delay of 200,000 Moderna Covid-19 vaccine doses, according to Jason Mahon, Florida Department of Health Communications Director.

The shipment was scheduled to arrive yesterday, Mahon said.

Mahon tells CNN, the state has notified vaccine providers about the delay and has asked them to reschedule appointments instead of cancelling them. 

The state is expecting to receive next week’s full allocation of the vaccine, per Mahon.

Many states across the country continue to deal with extreme cold. In Texas alone, about 2.8 million are still without power, and temperatures are well below freezing across the entire state.

If you lose power, here are some tips to stay safe:

Here are some other things to keep in mind:

If you have low bandwidth, use CNN’s lite site to get the latest updates on conditions in your area.

A man fills a propane tank in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday, February 16.

Austin Energy, the city of Austin’s community-owned electric utility, told customers they are facing challenges with restoring power to the city and as a result, “customers should be prepared to not have power through Wednesday and possibly longer.”

Austin Energy told people to utilize warming shelters in the city if they need to.

Last night, Austin Energy said ERCOT — the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which controls much of the state’s grid — ordered them to “shed more load” and they are working to meet their “obligations to maintain the state’s electrical grid.”

“Unfortunately, ERCOT is ordering us to shed more load tonight as demand on the grid increases, and those restored customers may again lose power. We are frustrated but we are working to meet our obligations to maintain the state’s electrical grid,” Austin Energy tweeted.

The National Weather Service forecast that heavy, freezing rains are expected to develop and spread across parts of central Louisiana this morning.

“Rates of 0.10 to 0.30 inch per hour are probable,” the service tweeted.

Here’s a look at the forecast:

Lina Hidalgo, judge for Harris County, Texas, where Houston is located, warned residents to buckle up for the possibility of a few more days without power. Hidalgo also serves as the county’s chief executive.

About 2.5 million people and 34 cities in Harris County do not have power, Hidalgo said on CNN’s “New Day.” Pipes are bursting, many residents do not have water and hospitals are reporting issues as well after a winter storm bringing ice and frigid temperatures gripped the state, she said.  

Hidalgo said state and local leaders are working with utilities companies to get power back on in the short term, and then determine what went wrong.  

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas is a major grid operator that controls about 90% of the state’s electric load.

“ERCOT needs to get its generators back up, and I do not trust they’re in a place to say we’re going to get it back up today, tomorrow. I believe it’s going to take some time, and that’s what I’m explaining to my residents,” she added.

Watch:

Another “major winter storm” will grip parts of Central US starting today, an area already hard-hit by freezing temperatures and ice earlier this week, according to the National Weather Service.

More than four inches of snow is possible in parts of Oklahoma, and freezing rain is likely from Texas to Tennessee, the service said.

This storm will extend into the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, with more than eight inches of snow possible in parts of Pennsylvania.

Here’s a look at what to expect today through Friday:

Severe weather around the United States is expected to lead to widespread delays in Covid-19 vaccine shipments and deliveries in the coming days, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday.

“Shipping partners are working to deliver vaccine where possible, contingent on local conditions, but the adverse weather is expected to continue to impact shipments out of the FedEx facility in Memphis, Tenn., as well as the UPS facility in Louisville, Ken., which serve as vaccine shipping hubs for multiple states,” the statement continued.

 “CDC and federal partners are working closely with the jurisdictions, as well as manufacturing and shipping partners, to assess weather conditions and help mitigate potential delivery delays and cancellations.”

As millions of people across the United States continue to weather a deadly winter storm without power, forecasts predict ice and low temperatures could be ahead for some of the worst-hit states.

This comes as states with typically mild winters  — including Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Kentucky  — are already facing hazardous roads, power outages and water shut offs from the winter storms.

The weather has led to at least 26 deaths, including three people who died in carbon monoxide related incidents and one driver who hit a snowplow.

The current round of winter weather is underway in the southern Plains, and will continue to develop as it pushes winter weather into the Northeast.

Then the warming trend will begin in Texas this weekend, and moderate for the rest of the regions that have been impacted by the frigid temperatures, CNN meteorologist Michael Guy said.

As millions of people across the United States continue to weather a deadly winter storm without power, forecasts predict ice and low temperatures could be ahead for some of the worst-hit states.

This comes as states with typically mild winters — including Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Kentucky — are already facing hazardous roads, power outages and water shut offs from the winter storms. The weather has led to at least 26 deaths, including three people who died in carbon monoxide related incidents and one driver who hit a snowplow.

The current round of winter weather is underway in the southern Plains, and will continue to develop as it pushes winter weather into the Northeast. Then the warming trend will begin in Texas this weekend, and moderate for the rest of the regions that have been impacted by the frigid temperatures, CNN meteorologist Michael Guy said.

Many of those who will face the harsh temperatures are among the nearly 3.5 million customers who are still in the dark, according to PowerOutage.US.