Texas death toll from February storm, outages surpasses 100

[mucifer]

Source: Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas officials on Thursday raised the death toll from February’s winter storm and blackouts to at least 111 people — nearly doubling the state’s initial tally following one of the worst power outages in U.S. history.

The majority of the deaths are associated with hypothermia, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. The number could continue to rise as officials link more deaths to the storm that knocked out power to more than 4 million customers in Texas.

Many homes went without power or drinkable water for days after subfreezing temperatures, failing power plants and record demand for heat pushed Texas’ electric grid to the breaking point.

The disaster has launched a congressional investigation and led to the ouster of the head of the state’s embattled electric grid, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/hypothermia-health-storms-power-outages-texas-ffeb5d49e1b43032ffdc93ea9d7cfa5f

[IcyPeas]

1. and yet this guy is still in office:

[eppur_se_muova]

2. The tree of unrestrained free-market capitalism must be refreshed from time to time ...

... with the blood of the innocent and defenseless.

(Not as noble-sounding as the original quote it's based on, but it seems to be held dear by more conservatives.)

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. Texas snowstorm death toll double what was originally reported -- and could be even higher: officials

Greg killed a ton of good Texans

Link to tweet

On Thursday, The Daily Beast reported that officials have doubled their estimate of the death toll for the freak snowstorm that paralyzed the state of Texas in February — and that even more could be reported as the investigation continues.

"The Texas Department of State Health Services said that the number of deaths, initially 57, was in actuality 111 and is still expected to rise as state investigators continue their work," reported Blake Montgomery. "The majority of the fatalities were from hypothermia, but lack of access to medical care, traffic accidents, and fires also played a part. Carbon monoxide poisoning, often caused by sitting in a car in a closed garage, was also a culprit."

According to Dallas County chief medical examiner Jeffrey Barnard, "We'll probably never have a really accurate number."