Monday marks one year since the beginning of the February 2021 winter storm that moved into Texas, dropped temperatures below freezing for nine days and resulted in millions being without power or water for days.
The storm contributed to the deaths of 246 people, according to the latest figures provided by the Texas Department of State Health Services. The victims lived in 77 counties and ranged in age from an infant to 102 years old.
More than half of the people who died suffered from hypothermia, which is caused by prolonged exposure to the cold.
At least 19 people in the state died because of carbon monoxide poisoning. Many of those deaths were caused by people using alternate and dangerous methods to heat their homes.
They include two men in Garland who were found dead in an apartment alongside a generator that was switched into the “On” position and a man in Fort Worth who died after using a generator in the kitchen of his house.
In the new, four-part streaming docuseries, ‘Texas Power Crisis: 4:37 From Disaster,’ NBC 5 examined the days of frigid temperatures and desperation while also investigating the problems that were fixed in the past year, the lingering issues that could still leave us on the brink of another collapse, and whether it really was a once-in-a-lifetime storm or if Texans will need to adapt to an increase in arctic blasts.
From new records revealing the causes of the massive February power outages to new interviews revealing potential solutions, NBC 5 Investigates gets to the bottom of the state’s power problems in the ongoing streaming series “Powerless,” available here.
Other Reports From NBC 5 Investigates
Jan. 28 – ERCOT Exec Proposes ‘Gas Desk’ to Help Texas Avoid Power OutagesJan. 17 – Most Deficiencies Found During Texas Power Plant Inspections Resolved: ERCOT
2021Nov. 19 – Texas Grid Could Suffer Outages in Another Major Winter Storm: Federal RegulatorsNov. 17 – Feds Recommend Steps to Avoid Future Winter Power Outages in TexasOct. 21 – Texas PUC Requires Power Plants Fix Issues Related to Winter OutagesOct. 15 – Vistra Shows Off Cold Weather Protection for Power PlantsSept. 24 – Issues That Led to Catastrophic Winter Power Outages Similar to 2011, Regulators SaySept. 22 – How the Gas Industry Downplayed Its Role in Winter Power Outages While Profiting From the StormJuly 14 – ERCOT Releases New ‘Roadmap’ for Power Grid SuccessJune 15 – ERCOT Vows to Investigate Early Summer Power Plant BreakdownsJune 1 – What Texas Lawmakers Did (And Did Not Do) to Address the Power CrisisMay 27 – Texas at ‘Elevated Risk’ of Summer Power Shortages, Potential Outages, Regulators WarnMay 20 – NBC 5 Investigates: How Texas Wind Power Could Work Better in Cold WeatherMay 12 – NBC 5 Investigates How the Colder States Avoid Winter BlackoutsApril 29 – NBC 5 Investigates Which Power Plants Left Texans Powerless in FebruaryApril 15 – ERCOT Had Concerns About Power Supplies Before Tuesday’s Conservation AlertApril 14 – Texas Power Conservation Alert Raises Alarm Across TexasMarch 12 – NBC 5 Investigates: U.S. Senate Probes Texas Power OutagesMarch 9 – Texas Speaker Unveils Plan to Prevent Repeat of State’s Energy CrisisMarch 5 – Many Power Plants Didn’t Meet Winter Recommendations in Past SeasonsFeb. 26 – Lawmakers Grill ERCOT CEO on First Day of Power Crisis HearingsFeb. 25 – ERCOT: Texas Was 4 Minutes and 37 Seconds Away From a Blackout That Could Have Lasted MonthsFeb. 25 – Abbott Calls for Laws to Prevent Power Crisis RepeatFeb. 20 – ERCOT Messages Reveal Actions Prior to Massive Power OutageFeb. 19 – Customers Say Oncor’s ‘Rolling Outage’ Message Left Them Confused, AngryFeb. 19 – ERCOT CEO Defends Actions Leading Up to Winter Storm, Record OutagesFeb. 18 – Federal Regulators Plan to Investigate Massive Texas Power OutageFeb. 18 – ERCOT Didn’t Conduct On-Site Inspections of Power Plants to Verify Winter PreparednessFeb. 16 – What Happened to ‘the Energy Capital of the World’ During This Winter Event?Feb. 15 – Power Outages and Texas Electric Emergency Explained
