Texas could repeat power crisis if severe weather hits this winter

Mark Majkrzak distributes water bottles to people in Austin, Texas, on Friday, February 19. Majkrzak, founder of Rain Pure Mountain Spring Water, said he drove from Georgia to deliver water.

Brendan Waldon repairs an electric pole in Odessa, Texas, on Thursday, February 18.

Deloris Sanchez and Mallissa Lee sit on a couch while sheltering at a Gallery Furniture store that serves as a heating station in Houston.

Traffic came to a standstill Thursday on Interstate 35 in Killeen, Texas.

City workers are repairing a damaged aqueduct in McComb, Mississippi, on Thursday.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority workers shoveled the steps of a New York City subway station on Thursday.

Emanuale Small walks to a bus stop in Roanoke, Virginia, on Thursday. Small had to go to a doctor’s appointment, and he was told they would delay him a bit so he could still make it despite the icy conditions.

People take shelter at a shelter in Galveston, Texas, on Thursday.

Cars slow down on an icy road in Washington, DC, on Thursday.

Jose Blanco filled a cooler with water from a public park in Houston on Thursday. Houston and several surrounding cities have been notified of boiling water.

Snow fell in New York’s Times Square on Thursday.

Snow is plowed outside the US Capitol on Thursday.

Jonathan Callahan expresses his gratitude after being referred to a warm shelter at the Johnnie Champion Community Center in Jackson, Mississippi, on Wednesday, February 17. Some of those staying at the shelter were lost power, water and heat in their home after winter storms. Others are homeless. Food, blankets and cots were provided.

Charles Andrews walks home through his neighborhood in Waco, Texas, on Wednesday. Millions of people are still powerless.

Nathan Halaney and Katherine Pena help their neighbor, Brenda Davis, escape the scene of a nearby construction fire in Austin, Texas, Wednesday.

Eric Traugott warms his young son, Eric Jr., by a fire made from a discarded wooden cape outside their Austin apartment on Wednesday.

Fallen and broken trees are seen on a pit stop in Huntington, West Virginia, on Wednesday.

Sara Castillo loads firewood into her car in Dallas on Wednesday. Castillo’s family lost power on Sunday.

Customers wait outside the Home Depot to buy supplies in Pearland, Texas, on Wednesday. The store only allows one person in at a time because it doesn’t have electricity.

An Austin family melted snow on the stove so they could flush the toilet and wash the dishes on Wednesday. Their electricity has been restored, but they still don’t have running water.

Kendra Clements visits owner of dog Billy Madden – with his two dogs Leroy Brown and Underdog – at Tribe Gym, an Oklahoma City gym that has been turned into a makeshift shelter for the homeless.

Manessa Grady adjusts an oil lamp while spending time with her sons Zechariah and Noah at their home in Austin on Tuesday, February 16.

Maria Patterson breastfed her infant daughter Tuesday at their home in Austin, which has been without power since Sunday night.

Electric service trucks line up in Fort Worth, Texas, on Tuesday.

Karla Perez and Esperanza Gonzalez warmed up to the grill after their power was cut off in Houston on Tuesday.

Jorge Sanhueza-Lyon stands on his kitchen counter to warm his feet on a gas stove in Austin.

Sunlight filters through steam in Omaha, Nebraska, where temperatures dropped below zero on Tuesday.

Camilla Swindle sat in a shopping cart as she and her boyfriend waited in long lines to enter an Austin grocery store on Tuesday.

Brett Archibad entertains his family as they try to stay warm in their home in Pflugerville, Texas, on Tuesday.

People clear snow on the sidewalk in Chicago on Tuesday.

Customers use light from their cell phones as they shop for meat at a grocery store in Dallas on Tuesday. Even though the shop was out of power, it was still open to sell cash.

A United Airlines jet is de-icing at George Bush International Airport in Houston.

A snow plow clears a parking lot in Columbus, Ohio, early Tuesday.

City worker Kaleb Love works to clear ice from a fountain in Richardson, Texas, Tuesday.

Steam rises from the frozen Missouri River in Kansas City.

Bethany Fischer washes her face as her husband, Nic, lays on a mattress at a Houston church Tuesday. The couple lost power back home.

Homes in Houston’s Westbury area are covered in snow on Monday, February 15.

James Derrick, who is homeless, looks out of his tent in Oklahoma City on Monday. The city has hit a record for five days without rising more than 20 degrees, and temperatures are not expected to peak until Thursday.

Drivers slowed down in Indianapolis on Monday.

A city employee clears sidewalks in South Bend, Indiana, on Monday.

Austin, Texas, covered with snow on Monday.

Eithan Colindres wore a winter coat underneath after his family’s apartment lost power in Houston on Monday.

Two women cross Main Street as it snows in Bowling Green, Ohio, on Monday.

A boy feeds pigs in St. Joe, Arkansas, on Monday.

Ice covers a road sign in Midland, Texas, on Monday.

Kirk Caudill shovels snow in Louisville, Kentucky.

Ice removal vehicles at the international airport in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday.

Crews unload the snow they clear from the streets of Oklahoma City.

People help a stranded motorist in Oklahoma City on Monday.

People walk on a snowy road in Austin on Monday.

Men shovel ice and snow in front of stores in Louisville, Kentucky, on Monday.

Several cars drive in San Angelo, Texas, on Sunday, February 14.

People enter a Covid-19 testing site in Seattle on Saturday, February 13. Seattle reported more than 11 inches of snow over the weekend, the most since January 1972.

Harrison Walsh skates at Pike Place Market in Seattle on Saturday.

Cars drive along Interstate 705 as it snows in Tacoma, Washington, on Saturday.