Deadly freeze hits millions in US

LUBBOCK, Texas－Historic winter storms killed at least 21 people in the United States, left millions without power in Texas and other states, and spun killer tornadoes in the country's southeast on Tuesday.

The brutal cold engulfed vast swaths of the country, shuttering COVID-19 inoculation centers and hindering the delivery of vaccine supplies. It is not expected to relent until the weekend.

Officials in Texas drew criticism as the state energy grid repeatedly failed, forcing rolling blackouts. Freezing weather stilled giant wind turbines that dot the West Texas landscape, making it impossible for energy companies to meet escalating demand.

University student Corbin Antu found a way to snowboard in the flat West Texas plains town of Lubbock. He clung to a tow rope as friends in a pickup truck pulled him up and down silent white streets.

"This is my first time snowboarding out in Lubbock. Trust me, it's not disappointing," Antu said. "There is so much powder out on the ground it feels like it's Colorado almost."

The 21 people died in Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky and Missouri. They include four killed in a house fire in Sugar Land, Texas, where the power was out, local media said.

US President Joe Biden assured the governors of hard-hit states the federal government stands ready to offer any emergency resources needed, the White House said in a statement.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said at a news conference that 1.3 million people in his city remain without power. The city is looking for businesses that still have power to open their doors as warming centers.

Officials in south Texas warned citizens from bringing grills or propane heaters indoors. Hospitals treated people for carbon monoxide poisoning as they tried to heat icy homes using those items.

'Not safe to be out' in Texas

Turner said vaccination centers in Houston would remain closed on Wednesday and probably also on Thursday. The Texas Department of State Health Services said vaccine shipments around the state would be delayed.

"No one wants to put vaccines at risk by attempting to deliver it in dangerous conditions," department spokesman Douglas Loveday said by email. "It is not safe for people to be out across much of Texas."

In neighboring New Mexico, a state spokesman said by email there were delays in some Pfizer vaccine shipments, which were expected to be brief.

Storms dumped snow and ice from Ohio to the Rio Grande through the long Presidents Day holiday weekend. Treacherous weather was expected to grip much of the US through Friday.

An Arctic air mass descended over much of the country, pushing temperatures to historic lows on Tuesday, said meteorologist Lara Pagano of the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.

In Lincoln, Nebraska, a reading of -35 C on Tuesday shattered a record set in 1978 of-27C.

"It's just dangerous," Pagano said.

With more than 4.4 million power outages in Texas alone, authorities shut down inoculation sites and scrambled to use 8,400 vaccines that require sub-zero refrigeration before they spoil after a backup generator failed, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said.

Doses were rushed to area hospitals and Rice University to be injected into the arms of people already at those locations and who did not have to travel on slick roads.

In the US Southeast, a low-pressure system that developed along the Arctic front created fuel for storms that unleashed at least four tornadoes, said meteorologist Jeremy Grams of the weather service's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. One ripped through the Florida Panhandle and two through southwestern Georgia on Monday.

The fourth, most severe twister left three dead and homes flattened after it swept overnight through North Carolina's coastal Braunschweig County in the state's southeastern corner between Wilmington and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, the local sheriff's office said early on Tuesday.

Agencies - Xinhua