Texas Wind Turbines Are Frozen

The historic winter storm causing power outages, canceled flights, and lots of snow and ice across Texas has also frozen many wind turbines in the state. So many, in fact, that nearly half of the state's installed wind power generation capacity is offline, the Austin American-Statesman reports. The unfrozen wind turbines on the coast, however, are spinning at a higher rate than is typical, due to the storm, and thus offsetting some of the loss. The state's power grid is already strained due to the storm; residents are being asked to conserve electricity usage and rolling power blackouts are being utilized. More than 4 million Texans were without power Monday night, per this tracker. The Dallas Morning News reports the rotating outages were expected to continue through at least Tuesday morning, and other outlets are saying it's not clear when they will end.

A second storm is coming in Wednesday, KHOU reports, and the temperature in Houston is not expected to go above freezing until Friday. Same for Dallas, CNN reports. (News 18 has amazing pictures of the results of the storm.) But by the weekend it will be warming up, which means another potential problem—all the pipes currently freezing could burst, warns WFAA, which has tips for homeowners. More than just Texas is impacted by the storm, which has killed at least four people in the surrounding region, USA Today reports. A 10-year-old boy fell into an icy pond in Tennessee on Sunday and died; his 6-year-old sister was saved. A 50-year-old Louisiana man slipped on ice and hit his head on the ground Monday, killing him. And two people died in crashes on icy Kentucky roads Monday. In Houston, an adult and child were in critical condition from carbon monoxide poisoning after a family used a charcoal grill indoors to stay warm, ABC 13 reports. (More Texas stories.)