A series of images showing the recent sub-zero temperatures in Texas have appeared on social media this week, with power outages plunging millions of Americans into dangerous conditions of freezing cold and darkness.
According to The Guardian, arctic storms that have swept across large parts of the central and southern United States have brought record-breaking cold temperatures, leading to the deaths of at least 21 people across multiple states as of the time of writing.
The Guardian reports that more than 4 million homes and businesses were left without power on Tuesday, February 16.
As a result of this, a number of Texans have taken to social media to share images of the interiors of their freezing cold homes, many of which have become submerged in ice as a result of the lack of air conditioning.
For example, an Austin resident named Thomas Black has uploaded a number of pictures of the ice in his own accommodation, which has even frozen over the blades of a ceiling fan.
Black captioned the picture: "This is how cold it is at my Apartment. As a Texan, yes, I'm certainly not built for this. I don't even care."
Black also uploaded a video and a series of images of the pool outside, which had frozen over completely as a result of the arctic conditions.
Another Twitter user took pictures of her own kitchen faucet, which had also frozen over while dripping.
She captioned the video: "My dish soap in the back is frozen solid too... do u see how my faucet is literally coming out of place?"
Commenting on the situation, Harris County judge Lina Hidalgo told the Guardian: "History is going to remember who did their part and who didn’t."
She continued: "We’re facing all kinds of frustrating situations. We’re asking folks to conserve energy. At last count, 1.37 million people in our region are without power. The other 3 [to] 4 million are conserving power to protect more from having to being cut. Then you have the buildings downtown lit up."
She added: "We noticed those from the emergency operations center last night. We called around asking those leaders to take the power down. Some of them did around 11 [to] midnight. Some of them didn’t. It just tells you everybody has to do their part.
"And as I’ve been stressing to my community today, that’s not just the individuals. That’s the businesses. History is going to remember who did their part and who didn’t do their part."
