WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th February, 2021) Nearly 15 million residents of Texas are currently facing water system disruptions caused by the severe winter weather that swept through the state this week, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality spokesperson Tiffany Young told Sputnik.
"As of 4:00 p.m., more than 1,300 public water systems have reported disruptions in service due to the weather, affecting more than 14.9 million people, many of them leading to Boil Water Notices," Young said.
Young added that 159 out of the 254 Texas counties have been affected with water system disruptions, impacting service for about half the population of Texas.
As of Friday afternoon, more than 138,800 homes in Texas have no power due to the inclement weather. Earlier this week, the winter storm left more than 4 million homes without power due to disruptions to natural gas and coal generators and nuclear power plants.
On Wednesday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued an order banning the state from exporting natural gas to other states until February 21 in order to conserve supplies for Texas power generators.
President Joe Biden told reporters on Friday he is planning to visit Texas as soon as next week to oversee recovery efforts from the severe winter storm that left millions without power this week.
Nearly 254,000 homes throughout Mississippi, Oregon, Louisiana, and Kentucky have also experienced power outages due to the storm.
NBC news reported that at least 47 people have died in 10 states, a majority of them in Texas, because of the winter storm.
