China News Service, February 24th, a comprehensive report that Texas, the United States, has recently been affected by snowstorms, water and power cuts, and the situation has not been fully alleviated. President Biden plans to go to Texas on the 26th local time to learn about the disaster.
On the other hand, on the 23rd, four Texas Electric Reliability Commission (ERCOT) board members submitted their resignations. Governor Abbott responded that he "welcomes" his resignation and will continue to investigate ERCOT.
On February 20, local time, due to a blizzard and extremely cold weather in Texas, USA, water and electricity supplies were in short supply in some areas. Rodney Roberts, who lives in Texas, fetched water from his swimming pool to flush the toilet.
Over 9 million people still face drinking water problems
Biden plans to travel to Texas to learn about the disaster
On the afternoon of the 23rd local time, the White House announced its itinerary, saying that Biden will travel to Houston with the first lady Jill.
In recent days, he has remotely contacted the Texas state government and local officials, but expressed his reluctance to visit Texas too early to avoid taking up resources to deal with the current crisis.
White House spokesperson Shaqi said that during the inspection, Biden will “meet with local leaders to discuss winter storms and snow, disaster relief work, progress in recovery work, and the incredible resilience shown by the people of Texas and Houston.” She He added that Biden will also visit a health center that is distributing the new crown vaccine.
The White House will provide further information on this visit soon.
The snowstorm last week caused billions of dollars in damage to Texas.
Millions of Texas residents have been without water and electricity for a long time, struggling to survive the severe cold.
Currently, dozens of people in Texas have died in accidents related to winter blizzards.
In response, Shaqi said that in the states affected by the storm, the number of asylums is decreasing, and electricity and transportation have returned to normal.
But over 9 million people still face drinking water problems.
Recently, the United States has been hit by extremely cold weather, and the temperature in many places hit a record low in recent years.
Among them, Texas was the most severely affected. The blizzard paralyzed the power grid in the severe cold and caused long-term power outages in millions of residents' homes.
The picture shows people "skiing" with cars on an empty highway.
Four ERCOT board members resign
Governor of Texas says he will continue to investigate ERCOT
On the 23rd, 4 board members of the Texas Electric Reliability Commission (ERCOT), including the chairman and the vice chairman, submitted their resignations, effective from the 24th.
According to a letter to the board of directors, the four officials resigned after ERCOT was reviewed because board members did not live in Texas.
Of the four members, one lives in Michigan and one lives in Illinois.
The place of residence of the other two is not shown on their ERCOT introduction page.
Texas Governor Abbott issued a statement on the resignation of ERCOT’s board of directors on the 23rd, stating, “When Texans desperately needed electricity, ERCOT failed to do its job well. Texans could only tremble with cold at home. There is no electricity. The leadership of ERCOT assured that Texas’s electricity infrastructure was prepared for winter storms, but these guarantees proved to be catastrophically wrong."
The statement also said, "The lack of preparation and transparency of ERCOT is unacceptable. I welcome these resignations. Texas will continue to investigate ERCOT to find out the full cause of the problem. We will ensure that the catastrophic events of last week will not repeat itself."