Julianna Flanagan, Freshman
Recently here in Bucks County, we have been hit with extreme winter storms and cold weather, but when a place like Texas, who’s winter nights hardly reach below zero, is hit by extreme weather like this, it causes chaos! In the past week, more than a third of the United States experienced frigid temperatures. Some cities were left without power and without food. Two storms slammed Texas on February 10th -11th and February 13th -17th. Officials report that due to the power outages, both carbon monoxide poisoning and other deaths are on the rise.
Other effects of the severe winter storms, like more than 550 vehicle crashes and freezing pipes, have caused water leaks for many citizens. Grocery shelves are empty, leaving many without basic necessities like food and clean water. This food supply problem has never happened before. This means that not even the demand for food and other products at stores during Covid-19 was as bad as the demand currently is in Texas. Not to mention that this is also seen as what could be one of Texas’s costliest weather events in history, even surpassing the destructive Hurricane Harvey as these catastrophic storms are expected to result in large insurance claims.
The storms may have stopped, but recovery is expected to take some time as there is extensive damage due to flooding and other effects of the freezing temperatures. An article on CNN says that some have found this to be just an inconvenience, but for those who fight everyday for everything they have and the roof over their head, this has been a life changing event and a major disruption. People's ceilings have fallen in and many of their belongings have been damaged. Many don't have the insurance to fix their homes and energy bills across Texas have skyrocketed.
As the winter storms have finally come to an end, Texas will still be recovering from the detrimental effects. As citizens are finding a way to live and repair their homes, they are also dealing with the insurance companies as well as energy/power companies. Texas has been seriously affected by this catastrophe and will be facing its effects for months.
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