Southern and central United States of America witnessed a massive power outage due
to a deadly winter storm on Tuesday, AFP reported. The harsh weather has gripped the US
with a tornado claiming lives of three people in North Carolina. Arctic
conditions have brought record low temperatures to several states unaccustomed
to such extreme cold. Texas was the hardest-hit
where freezing conditions prompted utility companies to implement rotating
blackouts to stop the power grid being overloaded by the surge in demand.

More than four million residential, commercial and industrial customers
in Texas faced power outage as of Tuesday morning. State capital Austin
reported a temperature of 10 degrees Fahrenheit (-12 degrees Celsius).

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President Joe Biden has declared an emergency for Texas on Sunday, providing
federal assistance to supplement state relief efforts. Weather-related
emergencies have also been declared in Alabama, Oklahoma, Kansas, Mississippi
and Oregon — where more than 200,000 people were without power.

The National Weather Service (NWS) said the winter storm will move
towards the northeast US before “making a beeline for eastern
Canada.”

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In Houston, locals took advantage of the opportunity and built snowmen. Similarly,
in Mississippi, residents woke up to discover much of the Deep South state
transformed into a snow-and-ice-covered landscape.

At least 10 deaths have been linked to the recent bad weather, and
authorities across the US urged residents to exercise caution in navigating the
perilous conditions.