By February 17, at least 21 people died from causes related to the winter storm. By February 19, the number was updated to at least 32 people who died, with deaths linked to carbon monoxide poisoning, car crashes, drownings, house fires and hypothermia. On February 21, the death toll had increased to 70. As of January 2, 2022, the total loss of life was reported to be 246, with deaths in 77 counties. Victims included children less than a year old to elderly up to 102 years old. Reports found that almost two-thirds died of hypothermia and that 148 deaths were directly caused by the storm, 92 deaths were indirectly caused by the storm, and 6 deaths were found as possibly caused by the storm. The
Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) initiated
rotating outages at 1:25am on February 15. However, a retrospective
Houston Chronicle article a year later said
peak demand was even higher: 76,819 megawatts on Feb. 16, 2021. The rotating outages prevented electricity demand from overwhelming the grid, a scenario which could have caused equipment to catch fire and power lines to go down, potentially resulting in a much more severe blackout. At the peak, over 5 million people in Texas were without power, with 11 million experiencing an outage at some point, During the period of outages, the wholesale electric price was set to $9,000/
megawatt-hour which was the "system cap" set by ERCOT, compared to a more typical $25/MWh. Some
Griddy customers signed up for wholesale variable rates plans allowed by the Texas deregulated
electricity market found themselves facing over $5,000 bills for five days of service during the storm. Wholesale prices were kept at an artificially inflated level of $9,000 for about four days, an amount normally only hit momentarily, in fear of instability even after electricity demand dropped. Total Texas electricity costs on February 16 alone reached $10.3 billion, greater than the $9.8 billion spent in all of 2020.
Water and Food shortages Water service was disrupted for more than 12 million people due to pipes freezing and bursting. More than 200,000 people in Texas lived in areas where water systems were completely non-operational. The city had lost more than of water due to burst pipes by February 18, according to Austin Water Director Greg Meszaros. Nearly 12 million people were advised to
boil their tap water before consumption due to low water pressure throughout the pipe network. People were seen collecting water from the
San Antonio River Walk with trash cans. Due to the inclement weather conditions and extensive power outages, most grocery stores statewide could not keep up with the increased demand for food and sundry items. Many stores were forced to close due to lack of power; the few that remained open completely ran out of most staple food items like bread, milk, and eggs. Officials also warned that the shortages could be long term, stating that 60% of the region's grapefruit crop and 100% of the orange crop were lost due to the weather.
Infrastructure Damage The inclement weather caused many fire hydrants to be unusable in emergency situations. In one case, firefighters near the San Antonio area had to rely on
water tenders to deliver between 2,000 and 3,000 gallons of water to the scene of a fire as the hydrant was unusable. Plumbing in buildings throughout the state burst due to freezing. Structures were damaged by water and streets were flooded. A shortage of plumbers, in part due to excessive
licensing requirements kept in place by Governor Abbott despite the legislature removing them, led to months-long waits for repairs.
Environmental consequences Significant releases of pollutants due to stopping and starting fossil fuel infrastructure such as chemical plants and fuel refineries were reported. These included one ton of the
carcinogen benzene, two tons of
sulfur dioxide, 12 tons of natural gas, and 34 tons of
carbon monoxide.
Targa Resources' Wildcat and Sand Hills natural gas plants released four times the emissions of the nation's largest refinery during the freeze.
Agricultural Damage According to
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, after the winter storm, Texas agriculture suffered more than $608 million in losses after the storm. These losses included at least $230 million in Citrus crops primarily in the Rio Grande Valley, and around $228 million in livestock, and a minimum of $150 million in vegetable crops such as cabbage, onions and leafy greens. Many ranchers lost their harvest, and ranchers lost their sheep, cattle, goats, poultry and livestock grazing due to freezing temperatures and lack of resources. Ranchers had to buy additional expensive feed in order for their livestock to survive. With the loss of crops, the prices of groceries increased affecting not only ranchers and farmers but customers all around Texas.
Health concerns Carbon monoxide poisoning The combination of below freezing temperatures with no power for heat led people to undertake dangerous ways of heating their homes such as using ovens or even burning fences and furniture. Deaths attributed to the storm include cases of
carbon monoxide poisoning from people running their cars or generators indoors for heating. At least 300 cases of carbon monoxide poisoning were reported. Out of these cases, at least 19 people died from the poisoning. Shipments of vaccines were delayed and facilities that would not be able to store vaccines properly were asked to transfer vaccines to those who could. In most cases, vaccinations were delayed because it was too dangerous for people to travel. About 1000 doses of vaccine were lost as a result of problems.
Hypothermia Due to the continued power outages across the state, many were faced with freezing temperatures in their homes increasing a risk of
hypothermia. The freezing temperatures potentially caused the death of an 11-year old boy, an 84-year-old widow, among others. Zoo, domesticated, and wild animals were also at risk due to the low temperatures with animal sanctuaries and veterinary clinics identifying an increase in hypothermia cases in the animals. ==Response==