After the Storm

Texas residents are still recovering from a winter storm that hit several states in mid-February. Extreme cold caused much of the state’s power grid to fail. “We were woefully unprepared for this kind of cold,” said Texas state representative Ron Reynolds.

Millions of Texans lost electricity for days as temperatures sank into the 20s. Frozen pipes meant no running water. At least 70 people died in the United States.

Texas gets much of its electricity from natural gas. That system isn’t built for such cold. Plus, the state’s electrical grid is not connected to the rest of the country. Other states’ grids are. Oklahoma and Louisiana were also hit by the storm. But their problems were less severe. Their power systems are part of larger grids.

White House climate adviser Gina McCarthy called on Texas officials to create a plan for future storms. “It is going to happen,” she says. “And we need to be . . . resilient and working together as much as possible.”

Stop and Think! Why is last month’s storm in Texas still newsworthy? What lessons can be learned from what happened there?