After Winter Storm Uri made its way through Texas earlier this month, many Texans were left without electricity for days, some freezing to death. ABC News reported on one of these deaths: 11-year-old Christian Pineda whose mother has since filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the power companies. This is just one of many deaths associated with the winter storm and the lack of power it left behind.
Umair Irfan, from Vox, reported, “Winter Storm Uri scattered bitter cold, snow, and ice this week across a huge swath of the United States, including places that rarely see such extreme low temperatures such as much of Texas.” Some parts of Texas had not experienced weather this cold since 1949, the article continued.
EMU’s own Junior Shannon Cooper is from the Dallas area of Texas, and most of her family is without power because of the storm. Cooper shared how the recent events have divided her family in political ways. Cooper continued, “My cousin is a firefighter, and it’s been hard hearing many of the gruesome details of both crashes (especially from the pileup on I-35), massive pipe bursts, and beastly fires.”
Cooper added her own thoughts about the lack of responsibility. “There are huge concerns that Texas has ignored for years that led up to this, so I think it’s a bit irresponsible for the state to pretend like nothing is their fault. There’s no power coming from wind turbines—the generators are frozen solid—oil production is closed off—leaving Mexico in economic danger—, and yet people can’t seem to understand that this has been the long, inevitable effects of corruption, capitalism, and climate change.”
She continued that despite being a “proud liberal woman,” she does not appreciate hearing classmates joke about Texans getting what they deserve. Cooper said, “I don’t think any sound person should ever think someone deserves an environmental crisis like this. They need love and support, that’s what’s most important,” she said.
Fortunately, Cooper has not lost anyone, but she concluded by saying, “My prayers and thoughts are with everyone who is being affected by this.”
As of Friday, power has been restored to much of Texas; however, safe drinking water is still difficult to come by. Many pipes froze and burst during the storm. More than 14 million people have turned to boiling tap water, NBC News reported.
There are many ways to help Texas. ABC 13 Eyewitness News shared multiple organizations to donate to: Houston Food Bank, CrowdSource Rescue, The United Way of Greater Houston, Houston’s Child Charity, Coalition for the Homeless (Houston/Harris County), American Red Cross, Greater Houston Chapter, Houston SPCA, Lucille’s 1913, Texas Relief Warriors, and many others.
Or, as Cooper shared, you can just send your love and support.
