Texas Winter Storm Leaves Multiple People Dead Who Were Just Trying To Stay Warm

The Texas power outages continue to take lives across the state.

As you may know, the Lone Star State has been ravaged by a rare winter storm and record-low temperatures that overwhelmed the state’s electric grid, leaving over 4 million people without power. Texans have been doing whatever they can to stay warm — with many unwittingly putting themselves in dangerous and even deadly situations.

According to reports, two people — including a child — were found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning on Tuesday after a car was used to generate heat in a Houston residence that had lost power.

The police department said that city authorities responded to a welfare call to find two adults and two children suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning. A woman and girl did not survive, but a man and a boy were rushed to a hospital for treatment. The department said in a statement:

“Initial indications are that car was running in the attached garage to create heat as the power is out. Cars, grills and generators should not be used in or near a building.”

The names of the victims have not been released.

Unfortunately, those weren’t the only power outage-related deaths in Texas this week. Per local news outlets, a grandmother and three children died in a house fire in Sugar Land early Tuesday morning — hours after explaining on social media that they had been using the fireplace to stay warm.

Firefighters were called to the home around 2 a.m. to find a mother and her friend outside the burning home, both having suffered burn injuries. Inside the home, a 75-year-old woman and three young children were found dead; the woman was later identified as the children’s grandmother.

Police said one of the women found injured outside is the mother of the children who died, and she reportedly had to be held back by officials to keep her from going back inside the home to try to save her kids.

The neighborhood where the fire took place had been out of power for about eight hours. Police are still looking into the cause of the fire, but investigators said the found from the family’s social media posts that they’d been using the fireplace to keep warm.

Our hearts go out to the powerless cities at this dangerous, dark time. We hope everyone stays safe.

[Image via KHOU]