(Dallas) A winter storm has wreaked havoc in South America, especially in Texas, where authorities have been forced to ration electricity.
Rotating darkness was in effect Monday morning, with thousands of people starving as it was -10 degrees Celsius in Dallas and -5 in Houston.
People have been warned that infrastructure such as traffic lights may be temporarily without electricity.
These vortex failures have been described as the “last resort” to ensure the integrity of the electrical phase. They are expected to continue for a few hours on Monday.
As of 5 a.m. Monday local time, about 1.6 million subscribers were without electricity.
About 5,000 customers were left in the dark in Oklahoma and 3,000 in Arkansas. The population of both states is smaller than that of Texas.
Houston city officials have warned people to be prepared for dark and rough road conditions, all of which compare after a Type 5 hurricane.
Many accidents have been reported due to snow covered roads as the storm slides towards the northeast of the country.
Up to 0.5 centimeters of snow was expected along the Louisiana, Mississippi, Central Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio-West Virginia borders.
Up to 30 centimeters of snow was expected in the South American plains.
The area had been preparing for the storm for several days. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has issued a natural disaster order for 254 counties in the state. Mr. Abbott and his colleagues Kevin Stidt of Oklahoma and Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas mobilized National Guard units to assist with operations, including rescuing motorists.
President Joe Biden also declared a state of emergency in Texas Sunday night, which will provide federal assistance to regional and local relief efforts.
More than 760 flights have been canceled at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
The U.S. Meteorological Agency warned Sunday that snow could cover up to a foot in central Oklahoma. We expect about twenty centimeters of snowfall northeast between East Texas and the Ohio Valley.
In Memphis, Tennessee, lines formed where people had stockpiled in front of grocery stores on Sunday. Many roads and bridges in the state are slippery. Up to two centimeters of snow will accumulate in the center of the state, doubling the chances of darkening.
Areas of Kentucky and West Virginia affected by last week’s blizzard are expected to receive 0.6 inches of snow or 20 inches of snow by Tuesday.
Elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest, tens of thousands of people were without electricity after a winter storm.
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