“Texas residents said the storm – and ensuing partial collapse of the state’s power system – sapped what mental reserves they had left after eleven months of a global health crisis that has cost thousands of jobs and claimed more than 40,000 lives in the state. ‘To go through all of that and then also to have stuff like this happen, it’s like, ‘One more historical event, and I’m going to develop PTSD,’’ said Brianna Blake, 31, a mother of two sons. ‘I cannot do this.’ Officials with the state’s energy grid operator said it is still struggling with balancing supply and demand to the Texas power grid – and could not project when long-lasting outages would end.”
“Meanwhile, Oncor, the largest electricity provider in the state, tweeted Tuesday night that the state’s power grid operator had directed more reductions in the electric load, and residents should ‘please be prepared for additional outages.’ Austin Energy issued a similar warning to its customers in Central Texas and said customers who have been without power the longest could continue to be affected. Energy experts, local leaders and residents said energy and state officials failed to properly prepare people for the mass outages coinciding with dangerous weather that’s already led to at least 10 deaths” – Texas Tribune.