5 MILLION WITHOUT POWER

At least six people people have died amid a dangerous winter storm system sweeping across the nation, which has also left nearly five million homes and businesses in Texas without power and caused a series of frightening tornadoes in the Southwest.

One person was killed in Kentucky when they lost control of their semi truck along the I-64 and collided with a guard rail, police said. The victim, 43-year-old grandmother Angel Johnson, was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected out of the vehicle.

In Louisiana, a 50-year-old man died in Lafayette Parish after slipping and falling on an ice-covered sidewalk and striking his head. 

Two people have also died in Texas from suspected cold exposure, including a 78-year-old man who fell in his front lawn and was stranded outside in the cold for several hours, and a 60-year-old homeless man in Houston who refused shelter and was later found dead at an overpass in east Harris County. 

The youngest of the victims was claimed in Tennessee, after a 10-year-old boy tragically fell into a frozen pond and drowned, officials said. The boy’s sister, 6, also fell through the ice and is currently in the hospital in critical condition.

All of the deaths have been linked to Winter Storm Uri, which has sent temperatures plunging across the Great Plains, causing widespread flight cancellations and closures of businesses.  Some 200 million people remain under some form of weather-related alert.

The record cold snap has seen caused arctic conditions in Texas, where wind turbines have frozen and wind chills have plummeted to a bitter -20F.

According to poweroutage.us, 4.38 million people in the Lone Star State alone are currently without power as of Monday night, while Oregon has seen more than 303,000 outages, and Louisiana more than 109,000.  

In Georgia and Florida, several homes and structures were damaged and at least four people were hurt, following a series of tornadoes that touched down across Monday afternoon.

(Read more)