Thu 18 February 2021:

Millions of Texans are continue to lack power Wednesday amid frigid and icy conditions as yet another snow storm nears the US state.

A previous cold front that brought an initial round of snow and ice storms knocked power offline in the state beginning over the weekend. About 2.7 million households continue to lack electricity, according to the state’s power grid manager.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has declared a state of emergency in every county in the state.

a snow storm in fort worth, texas pic.twitter.com/LOBxJCaZqL

— youth crew cowboy (@zanexdaniel) February 16, 2021

Snow in Galveston Texas!!! Never has it snowed at the beach!! pic.twitter.com/QNGYtmNsRq

— Angelique Clendennen (@AngieClendennen) February 16, 2021

Areal shot with my Mavic Air 2 from some where in North Texas Dallas area above my roof.
Some snow. May have more later in the afternoonish. pic.twitter.com/t2Hai37PGZ

— Andy a.k.a. Jin (进) (@w0ng_again) February 14, 2021

It’s so cold in Texas. We got a lot of ice but no snow 😭 but it is supposed to snow this weekend 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻 so much ice pic.twitter.com/N3TxADRz1Z

— vanessa (@vanessa_92baby) February 12, 2021

snow in galveston this morning.#galveston #texas #houwx pic.twitter.com/pBRrDRyQfN

— Pápi Churro (@rogervsonder) February 15, 2021

Hey everyone, my area of Texas is currently experiencing a massive freeze-over at the moment

It’s a layer of ice with a layer of snow with a layer of ice on top @w@

Powers been going off and on so if I disappear, that’s why pic.twitter.com/qoQbt7maLP

— 🍪CookieFenFen🍪 (@BoiFennec) February 17, 2021

My uncle sent me these pictures today of his hometown in San Antonio, Texas. The snow is so beautiful ❄🌨 pic.twitter.com/3i2uhomUPv

— 🦇𝕃𝕚𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘𝔻𝕖𝕒𝕕𝔾𝕚𝕣𝕝🦇 (@BrittanyLeShea2) February 16, 2021

The National Weather Service is predicting that as much as half an inch (12.5 mm) of ice could accumulate late Wednesday evening in a region that spans eastern Texas, and flows further east into northern Louisiana and western Mississippi. An additional 1 to 2 inches (25-50 mm) of snow is possible in parts of Texas through Friday, the service said on Twitter.

The state has seen some of its coldest temperatures in more than 30 years – some areas hit 0F (-18C) on Sunday – and US President Joe Biden earlier approved a state of emergency.

Some two million people in Texas are still without power. At a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Governor Greg Abbott said that 1.2 million Texans have so far had their power restored, with more coming “on board”.

The governor signed an executive order preventing any Texas natural gas from being exported outside of the state until 21 February.

Mr Abbott also told reporters that every source of power in Texas had been “compromised” – seemingly walking back earlier comments blaming renewable energy for the state’s blackouts.

A winter storm warning remains in effect for all but Texas’ Gulf Coast counties.

The storm comes as record low temperatures continue to be recorded in several cities across the state, with temperatures not expected to rise above freezing in wide swathes of the state until the weekend.

At least 25 people have died in the Midwest and south as the regions cope with extreme weather, most of whom have died in Texas, according to NBC News.

The recorded deaths include people who have died in traffic accidents, as well as some who suffered carbon monoxide poisoning from running cars and generators indoors to stay warm.

“This is an absolute public health disaster,” one medical official in Houston told the local television station KPRC-TV. “[Carbon monoxide poisoning] certainly happens when it gets cold, but never in these numbers.

One county said it had seen more than 300 suspected carbon monoxide cases during the cold snap. “It’s turning into a mini mass casualty event,” one Harris County doctor told the Houston Chronicle.

At least four people were killed following a house fire in Houston that officials said may have been sparked by candles. Separately, police said two men found alongside a Houston highway were believed to have died due to the cold.

Oil prices extend gains

The Texas energy sector remained without power for a fifth day on Wednesday, after an arctic blast stretched deep into southern states not typically hit by extreme cold.

Roughly 1 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude production have been shut, according to Wood Mackenzie analysts, and it could be weeks before production is fully restored.

“A flurry of fresh buying in oil futures was triggered as an unexpected impact on oil production and refiners in Texas from a cold storm raised supply fears of crude and fuel,” said Chiyoki Chen, chief analyst at Sunward Trading.

“A larger-than-anticipated draw in the US crude oil inventories also added to supply concerns,” Chen said.

US crude oil stocks fell by 5.8 million barrels in the week to February 12 to about 468 million barrels, compared with analysts’ expectations for a draw of 2.4 million barrels, American Petroleum Institute data showed.

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