With a second winter storm approaching, millions were still without power. Greg Abbott of Texas signed an executive order on Wednesday directing natural gas providers to sell only to power generators in the state. We should, across the state, start getting above freezing on Saturday. Most of the state will be below freezing tomorrow morning. After that, another round of precipitation will be coming across the state over the next 24 hours Cold temperatures will remain across much of the state for the next few days. Snow and sleet in Northeast Texas will continue to exist but also gradually move out over the next six hours. The initial and the main storm that has caused the severe damage in Texas is now beginning to move out of the state of Texas. That will increase the ability of gas-powered generators in Texas to increase power sent to the Texas power grid. That will also increase the power that’s going to be produced and sent to homes here in Texas. I have earlier today issued an order, effective today through February the 21st, requiring those producers that have been shipping to locations outside of Texas to instead sell that natural gas to Texas power generators. Transcript Texas Governor Orders Halt to Natural Gas Shipments Out of State Gov. On Wednesday, the state faced a new onslaught of sleet and freezing rain that the National Weather Service office in Austin/San Antonio said could be “ the worst of all the winter events over the past week.” Snow fell around Dallas-Fort Worth, and some spots in Texas were expected to pick up more than a quarter-inch of ice as the new storm moved through, making road travel extremely hazardous. Icicles hung from kitchen faucets in Houston, ambulances in San Antonio were unable to meet the surging demand, and the county government in coastal Galveston called for refrigerated trucks to hold the bodies they expect to find in freezing, powerless houses.
Pipes froze and burst across the state, and warming centers that had opened lost power. Texas remained in the frigid grip of winter storms on Wednesday as a fresh arctic blast deepened an electricity supply crisis that has forced millions to endure days without power and heat. After a deadly winter storm made its way across parts of the United States this week, millions of Texans remained without power in freezing temperatures on Wednesday.