Biden to declare disaster in Texas as 13m people under boil-water notice

US president Joe Biden said on Friday he will approve a disaster declaration for Texas, clearing the way for more aid in a crippling winter storm as he weighed a trip to survey the federal response.

Millions of residents in the United States’ biggest oil and gas producer have dealt with power outages, and nearly half of Texans struggled on Friday with disrupted water service. Nearly two dozen deaths have been attributed to the storm and a cold snap.

The end of frigid weather across Texas was in sight Friday, but many residents who fled their homes this week in search of warm beds and showers were just discovering the extent of the winter storm’s destruction. Nearly half the state’s population, about 13 million people, remained under boil-water advisories after freezing temperatures overwhelmed systems providing clean water. The administration of more than 400,000 first doses and 330,000 second doses of the coronavirus vaccines were delayed in Texas. Nationally, 6 million doses of coronavirus vaccines had been held up because of snowstorms, the White House said Friday. And the death toll across the country has climbed to 58, with many of the fatalities linked to the electricity crisis in Texas. As people in the state surveyed the damage, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the state’s energy grid, said there was no longer a need for rotating outages.

Many Texans are struggling to get even the basic necessities. Cities are opening water distribution sites, and more than 500 vehicles lined up Friday morning at the headquarters of the San Antonio Food Bank. The food bank hoped to distribute 100,000 pounds of food and water this weekend. At the site, volunteers and members of the Texas National Guard assessed pallets of potatoes, onions, bread, peanut butter, cakes, watermelon and other fresh produce, readying the food for residents hit hard by blackouts. Qiana Abrams, a personal trainer who lives in Dallas, said restaurants by a hotel she has been staying at were all closed. The 7-Eleven was picked clean. To get by, she has returned to her flooded apartment to get what food remained in the freezer.

Biden tested

The first crisis to develop in Mr Biden’s one-month-old term is testing the president’s pledge to govern on behalf of Americans who opposed his candidacy, a campaign commitment the Democrat intended to contrast with Republican former president Donald Trump.

Now, the White House is working closely with Republican Texas governor Greg Abbott, who did not initially acknowledge Mr Biden’s November election win. In December, Texas state officials tried, and failed, to overturn Mr Biden’s national election win in court.

“As I said when I ran, I’m going to be a president for all Americans,” said Mr Biden, who lost in Texas to Mr Trump.

“If I can do it without creating a burden for folks, I plan on going,” he said. A presidential visit to the state is being planned for next week.

Mr Biden has asked his team to expedite Texas’s request for a disaster declaration, clearing the way for more federal resources, press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters.

The White House later said in a statement that Mr Biden called the acting administrator at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Bob Fenton, to let him know he would approve Texas’s request as soon as the agency forwards a formal request.

The White House has been in touch with mayors in Texas cities, including Houston and Austin, and officials in Dallas and other counties, to make sure they were connected to FEMA and have access to federal government resources, an administration official said separately.

Mr Biden spoke to Governor Abbott on Thursday, and said the federal government would work with state and local authorities to offer relief to affected families.

Ted Cruz Mexico trip

Meanwhile, Republican senator Ted Cruz continued to face a backlash for travelling to a Mexican resort city in the middle of the crisis. Mr Cruz returned to Texas from his very brief trip to Cancun on Thursday. He has called the trip a “mistake.”

“We’re not spending any time, energy or breath analysing Senator Cruz’s whereabouts or his group chat,” Ms Psaki said.

Congressional Democrats criticised Mr Abbott and his fellow Republicans who control the state legislature on Friday, saying the crisis happened because they failed to upgrade the state’s independent electricity grid.

“This was preventable because for years Republicans have turned their back on the fact that the Texas power grid was not able to handle extreme cold temperatures,” said Democratic US representative Marc Veasey. “We’re now given reports that our grid was minutes, if not seconds, away from a complete collapse.” – Reuters and NYT