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While most Americans are used to the snow, some places are really struggling to get back on their feet with the constant storms of snow and sub-zero temperatures. Texas is one of those places. Most Texans woke up this morning with no power, which has been a constant throughout the last few days, and no water, which is yet another challenge they are currently facing. In addition to this, travel is at a standstill as snow plows cannot keep up with the amount of snow they are receiving. Also, another storm is rolling in, bringing more sleet and snow.

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As large parts of Texas woke up Thursday to another day of a power crisis amid extreme winter weather, issues with water systems added to the misery for much of the state's population.

Texans were under notice to boil tap water before drinking it after days of record low temperatures damaged infrastructure, caused blackouts and froze water pipes.

Millions across the U.S. were left without electricity or heat in the aftermath of the deadly winter storm as utility crews rushed to restore power before another blast of snow and ice this week.
The latest on the storm:

Out of more than a million people in the U.S. who did not have electricity, Texas accounted for nearly half with 511,421, according to the tracking site poweroutage.us. The state dropped below 1 million power outages for the first time Thursday.

In Texas, the extreme weather disrupted water service for more than 12 million residents, forcing many of the more than 680 water systems in the state to issue boil water notices.

Other parts of the country are bracing for snow. Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York City and the tristate area are expected to see 6 inches of snow, while Washington, D.C., is expected to get 2 to 4 inches.

At least 37 people have died because of weather-related fatalities since Thursday, the majority in Texas.

Another major winter storm is expected to track from the Lower Mississippi Valley into the mid-Atlantic and Northeast through Friday, the National Weather Service said, bringing more heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain to further complicate recovery efforts.

Travel remains paralyzed across much of the United States, with roadways treacherous and thousands of flights canceled. Many school systems also delayed or canceled face-to-face classes.

However, staying home also carried risks in places without power.

The winter weather has caused blackouts in Texas that affected 1.8 million customers Wednesday night, according to the tracking website poweroutage.us. That number was down to just over 511,000 as of 11:28 a.m. local time, the site said.

Without power or heat, some Texans posted videos on social media of them burning old furniture to stay warm. Others shared images of flooding caused by burst pipes and collapsed ceilings.

The extreme winter weather this week and accompanying problems - water facilities without power and lines that broke after freezing - disrupted service for more than 12 million Texans, forcing nearly 680 water systems to issue boil water notices, according to a spokesperson for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Nearly 264,000 Texans live in areas where water systems are completely nonoperational.

In Austin, the city's electric utility service warned that customers should be prepared to not have power through Wednesday and possibly longer.

A citywide boil water notice was issued late Wednesday after Austin's largest water treatment facility lost power and water pressure dropped.

One hospital had to transfer some of its most-in-need patients to other facilities and discharge others after losing water pressure, which affected its heating system.

In Houston, more than 1 million people remained without power Wednesday, Mayor Sylvester Turner said, adding that service would not be restored fully for another couple of days. The city has been under a boil water notice since Wednesday morning.

The city's public works department has gotten more than 1,500 calls about water leaks and water main breaks since Monday, officials said.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said on MSNBC that the majority of her community, which includes Houston, is under a water boil notice, "but they don't have power to boil the water."

The White House said Wednesday the Federal Emergency Management Agency has supplied generators to Texas and is preparing to move diesel into the state to ensure the continued availability of backup power to key critical infrastructure, including hospitals. Press secretary Jen Psaki said FEMA was also supplying Texas with water and blankets.

Galveston had broken water lines across the island because of freezing temperatures and is under a boil water notice. The city of 50,000 said with power off for so long, there had been an "unprecedented" number of broken pipes in homes.

"Now that power is slowly coming back on and temperatures are rising, we are experiencing a massive amount of water damage to homes and businesses," the city said in a statement.

Freezing overnight temperatures are expected to continue for days in parts of Texas. Southeast Texas isn't expected to see highs in the 50s until Saturday during the day, according to the the Weather Service.

Even after the power is restored and the ice begins to melt, each water system will need bacteriological sampling to clear those boil water notices, the state's environmental quality commission said.

Sampling can take up to 24 hours, and the state will work to get help from neighboring states, according to the agency.

In places with water, the cold temperatures with lack of power have caused pipes to burst in homes.

"We literally just got our power back a half-hour ago after 61 long hours of freezing in this house," Stacey Silverman of Dallas said Wednesday in an interview with Peacock's Zerlina Maxwell.

Silverman's 79-year-old mother has been staying in the house because her pipes burst in the cold and flooded her home.

She blamed the state for what she said was years of neglect and underinvestment. "This is not a natural disaster, what happened," she said. "Our state government has completely failed us."

Water shortages are affecting other states, too.

In Shreveport, Louisiana, city fire trucks delivered water to several hospitals, and bottled water was being brought in for patients and staff, Shreveport television station KSLA reported.

Nearly 115 million people, from the southern Plains to New England, are bracing for snow fall Thursday and Friday.

About a half foot of snow is expected to hit Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, NBC Boston reported. New York City and the tristate area are also expected to see 6 inches of snow, while Washington, D.C., is expected to get 2 to 4 inches.

Storms have played a role in at least 37 deaths in eight states, including deaths from traffic crashes. Three people were killed in a tornado in North Carolina on Monday, and a woman and child died in Houston on Tuesday from carbon monoxide poisoning after using their car for heat because their home was without power, officials said.

Three deaths in Louisiana were blamed on the winter storm, including a 50-year-old man who slipped and fell on black ice, the health department said.

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Texas contending with water nightmare on top of power crisis

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In addition to power blackouts amid freezing temperatures, scores of Texans were under boil water notices because of a lack of electricity or burst mains.

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Texas power outages and water shortages put bigger strain on hospitals

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Hospitals from Austin to Houston to Galveston are facing water problems.

As a historic winter storm knocks out power and bursts pipes across Texas, hospitals in the lone star state are facing additional stress.

Hospitals, already contending with COVID-19 patients, are now helping people whose supplemental oxygen tanks have run out, or those whose home medical equipment requires electricity and must now seek power in emergency departments, Lori Upton, vice president of the Southeast Texas Regional Advisory Council, told ABC News.

The Southeast Texas Regional Advisory Council covers 187 hospitals and 25 counties in the state and helps coordinate between providers, responders and health care partners.

With power out and supplies running thin, people are turning to hospitals for what they're accustomed to getting homebound, like a feeding tube or an external defibrillator that needs batteries to recharge, Upton said.

As of Wednesday, about 800 people were being held in emergency departments for oxygen or electricity for their equipment, she said.

Nearly 500,000 customers in Texas remained without power Thursday morning.

Galveston Mayor Craig Brown told "Good Morning America" Thursday that the city's hospital "ran dangerously low on water" due to burst pipes. Now that they've been able to refill the tanks, they're back up and running, he said.

Brown called the electricity and water crisis "worse than a hurricane."

"In a hurricane you can go to the mainland and get away from this. In this particular situation, no matter where you go in Texas, you still have a concern that is similar to what we have here," he said.

In Houston, hospitals are operating but many have reduced water pressure, ABC Houston station KTRK reported.

Two Austin area hospitals have also faced water outages, ABC affiliate KVUE reported.

Boil water advisories were issued in Houston and Austin.

There's also the issue of icy roadways, making it more treacherous for ambulances to transport patients and for hospital workers to get to their shifts safety.

Medical City Healthcare hospitals in Dallas and Fort Worth have "provided lodging and food for hundreds of colleagues to assure staff would not have to travel on dangerous roads and would be available to provide patient care," a hospital spokesperson said in a statement. "We've had hundreds of colleagues stay overnight in our hospitals across our system. It's remarkable. Everyone is pitching in. Our leaders and office colleagues are are picking up colleagues from hotels and homes, changing linens, delivering meals."

Click here for tips to stay safe during a power outage and click here to learn how to keep your water safe during a boil water advisory.

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Texas' power outages, water shortages put bigger strain on hospitals

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Hospitals from Austin to Houston to Galveston are facing water problems. As a historic winter storm knocks out power and bursts pipes across Texas, hospitals in the lone star state are facing additional stress.

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500,000 people in Texas have been without power for three days straight leaving inhabitants to be forced to keep themselves warm. Even with controlled power management, 424,000 power outages occurred.

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After days of living in the dark in crude conditions, millions of Texans had their power restored on Thursday, bringing some relief amid the arctic blast that brought the state's water and power infrastructure to its knees.

Early in the morning nearly a half-million residents were without electricity but by midday, just under 350,000 remained without power, according PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages across the country.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages most of the state power grid, said Thursday morning it had "made significant progress overnight restoring customer power, although some outages still remain throughout the state."

However, ERCOT noted that despite bringing the lights back on, energy emergency conditions remain as the grid operator and transmission owners work to restore the remaining customers that are without power.

"We're to the point in the load restoration where we are allowing transmission owners to bring back any load they can related to this load shed event," said ERCOT Senior Director of System Operations Dan Woodfin.

"We will keep working around the clock until every single customer has their power back on," Woodfin said.

Areas where distribution systems were damaged by ice storms may still be experiencing loss of power, according to ERCOT. Additionally, large industrial facilities that voluntarily went offline to help alleviate pressure on the overloaded power grid may also remain without power.

In Houston, more than 99% of CenterPoint Energy customers have regained power. But the company is still urging residents to be cautious.

"As we continue repairing equipment damaged by severe weather, we ask that you continue conserving electricity - lower your thermostat & avoid using appliances," CenterPoint Energy tweeted.

As of 5 p.m. local time, approximately 20,000 outages remained.

Some 7 million residents of Houston, Arlington, Fort Worth and Tyler have been ordered to boil their drinking water after the outages knocked treatment plants offline. Statewide, water pressure has fallen because of frozen lines, Toby Baker, executive director of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said.

Speaking to NPR's Morning Edition on Thursday, the mayor of Mansfield, Texas, Michael Evans, described the crisis in the state as "life or death."

"We have been caught in the middle of something here where there have been individuals who have not had electricity or power for about 3 1/2 days now [and] it's zero degrees," Evans said of Mansfield, a suburb in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

He said neighbors and churches have pitched in to help people whose homes have no electricity, despite concern over the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

"I was talking with a family yesterday, and they just knew these people, the temperature in their home was 32 degrees," Evans said. "So what they did was they brought the people in, and they all had their masks and gloves on and the individuals in one side of the house while they were on the other side of the house."

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, speaking Wednesday in Austin, called on top executives at the state's grid operator to resign over the outages. "Every source of power the state of Texas has access to has been compromised because of the ultra-cold temperature or because of the equipment failures," he said.

Nationwide, more than 30 deaths have been blamed on the weather this week - some who died trying to stay warm in their homes. One family in Houston succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning from car exhaust in their garage. In another Houston suburb, a grandmother and three of her grandchildren died in a house fire. Although the cause of the fire has yet to be determined, the Houston Chronicle reports that they had been using a fireplace to keep warm after their electricity went out.

The National Weather Service had winter storm warnings in effect in Texas from San Antonio west to the U.S.-Mexico border. Starting on the other side of the state, an unbroken band of warnings also extended for hundreds of miles through northern Louisiana, central Arkansas, parts of Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, western Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Heavy snow and ice are expected Thursday in the Appalachians, northern Maryland and southern Pennsylvania, the National Weather Service said.

Meanwhile, in Oregon, where winter weather advisories still cover much of the state, more than 100,000 customers were still without electricity a week after outages began. The Associated Press reports that a Portland supermarket that had been without electricity tossed perishable food into dumpsters, leading to a clash between scavengers and police.

"These are the most dangerous conditions we've ever seen in the history of PGE," said Dale Goodman, director of utility operations at Portland General Electric. He declined to predict when all customers would have power restored, the AP said.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards requested a presidential emergency declaration on Wednesday evening.

In Shreveport, La., local officials were warning residents that it might be Saturday before water service, cut off due to the winter storms, is fully restored. In Lake Charles, in Louisiana's southwest, Mayor Nic Hunter said Wednesday that water was scarce and that hospitals there might need to transfer patients out.

Arkansas State Police said Wednesday afternoon that there had been 22 weather-related road accidents along a 30-mile stretch of I-40, which runs through Little Rock.

In Lexington, Ky., residents reported that with more snow and sleet expected, many side streets had yet to be cleared from earlier this week and attention was likely to shift again to major roads.

"The roads look like they haven't even been touched," resident Stacy Hoskins told WKYT News. "[If] you haven't been out clearing already then you're not going anywhere."

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As Texans Recover Power, 'It's Life Or Death' For Many Bracing For More Frigid Temps

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After days of living in the dark in crude conditions, millions of Texans had their power restored on Thursday, bringing some relief amid the arctic blast that brought the state's water and power infrastructure to its knees.

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Last week the number of Americans applying for unemployment rose by 861,000 even though the number of COVID cases is on a steady decline. Nearly 10 million jobs still remain lost to the pandemic. The unemployment went down from 6.7% to 6.3% but only because people who aren't actively looking for jobs don't count as unemployed.

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The number of Americans applying for unemployment aid rose last week to 861,000, evidence that layoffs remain painfully high despite a steady drop in the number of confirmed viral infections

WASHINGTON -- The number of Americans applying for unemployment aid rose last week to 861,000, evidence that layoffs remain painfully high despite a steady drop in the number of confirmed viral infections.

Applications from laid-off workers rose 13,000 from the previous week, which was revised sharply higher, the Labor Department said Thursday. Before the virus erupted in the United States last March, weekly applications for unemployment benefits had never topped 700,000, even during the Great Recession of 2008-2009.

The figures underscore that the job market has stalled, with employers having added a mere 49,000 jobs in January after cutting workers in December. Nearly 10 million jobs remain lost to the pandemic. Though the unemployment rate fell last month from 6.7%, to 6.3%, it did so in part because some people stopped looking for jobs. People who aren't actively seeking work aren't counted as unemployed.

Still, fraudulent claims for jobless aid in some states and other issues, including potential backlogs of claims, may be elevating the totals. Last week, for example, Ohio reported a huge increase in applications and said it had set aside about half that increase for further review out of concern about fraud. And this week, Ohio reported that applications under a federal program that covers self-employed and gig workers jumped from about 10,000 to over 230,000. That could reflect a backlog of applications, because Ohio hadn't reported data under that program until two weeks ago.

Likewise, Illinois reported this week that jobless claims under its regular state program doubled - from 34,000 to nearly 68,000.

"The unemployment claims data remain a mess," said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Amherst Pierpont.

Applications may rise in the coming weeks, economists said, because of ice storms that have caused business shutdowns across the country. Yet economists are generally optimistic that as the weather improves, COVID vaccines are more widely administered and further federal aid is distributed, the economy will pick up in the spring and summer.

The surge in claims may also reflect, in part, the extension of two federal jobless benefit programs under an aid package that Congress enacted late last year. The extension of those programs meant that some people who had used up all their unemployment aid were eligible to reapply. The federal aid package also provided a $300-a-week unemployment benefit on top of regular state benefits.

Thursday's report showed that a total of 18.3 million people were receiving unemployment aid as of Jan. 30, down from 19.7 million the previous week. About three-quarters of those recipients are receiving checks from federal benefit programs, including programs that provide jobless aid beyond the 26 weeks given by most states. That trend suggests that a sizable proportion of the unemployed have been out of work for more than six months, reflecting a bleak job market for many.

Yet the two federal unemployment aid programs - one that provides up to an extra 24 weeks of support and another that covers self-employed and gig workers - are scheduled to expire in about a month.

President Joe Biden is proposing to extend both programs through August as part of his $1.9 trillion package now before Congress. The legislation would also provide an additional $400 a week in federal jobless aid, on top of state benefits. That money would replace a $300-a-week benefit that was included in the relief package approved last year.

Some industry data suggests that hiring remains weak. UKG, a company that provides time management software, estimates that among its mostly small-business clients, the number of shifts worked nationally has risen just 0.2% in the past month. That tepid increase signals that hiring has been sluggish so far this month.

Still, the economy has shown signs of picking up as states and cities have eased some business restrictions and the most recent round of $600 stimulus checks have made their way through the economy. Sales at retail stores and restaurants soared in January, jumping 5.3% from December, the government said Wednesday.

Furniture and electronic and appliance stores recorded some of the strongest increases, likely a result of last year's healthy gain in home sales.

Factory output also rose last month, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday, its fourth straight increase, led by greater production of steel and other metals.

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US jobless claims rise to 861,000 as layoffs stay high

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The number of Americans applying for unemployment aid rose last week to 861,000, evidence that layoffs remain painfully high despite a steady drop in the number of confirmed viral infections WASHINGTON -- The number of Americans applying for unemployment aid rose last week to 861,000, evidence that layoffs remain painfully high despite a steady drop in the number of confirmed viral infections.

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In Texas there is a warehouse filled with thousands of turtles that were saved from cold water. Because of the freezing cold temperatures in Texas a bunch of people pulled turtles out of the water to save them from freezing to death.

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thousands of turtles have been rescued from freezing waters in texas - cnn

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Thousands of turtles have been rescued from freezing waters in Texas

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While Texas' freezing temperatures wreak havoc on land, sea animals are also being affected. As of Tuesday, Sea Turtle, Inc., a nonprofit in South Padre Island, has rescued over 2,500 at-risk turtles from nearby waters.

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Millions of Texans have gone without power and it has severely affected the states while many of the upper class individuals have power, for example many residential areas are without power but the skyscrapers in downtown Huston are still lit, many governors are straight up ignoring the situation, the Governor of Colorado Springs basically told the inhabitants to "suck it up" and "its your fault you weren't prepared" along with Ted Cruz fleeing the state

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The same winter storm that blew more than 8 inches of snow into Indianapolis on Monday hit Texas - and hit it hard.

The southern state reached record-breaking cold temperatures and residents cranking up the heat overwhelmed power generators. Millions of households lost electricity, and many have now been without power and heat for days. Predictions on when it will be restored are uncertain.

As the chill settled in, Texans unaccustomed to cold, snow and ice scrambled to keep themselves warm. Families huddled around fireplaces, burning pieces of old fence or furniture. People waited in lines for as long as five hours for groceries. More than 30 people nationwide have died from the winter storm.

The continuing blackouts have some falsely blaming Texas' wind turbines and others calling for what they say are much-needed investments in electric infrastructure.

The outages also raise a question: Could this happen in Indiana?

The answer is yes - but it's not likely. Unlike Texas, Indiana's power system is under heavy regulation that requires weatherization. It's power grid is also connected to many other states, giving it the ability to pull in power from neighbors in the event of power loss in Indiana.

That said, experts warn that power grids across the country are unprepared to cope with an increasing amount of extreme weather events caused by climate change.

"Extreme weather is extreme weather and that can have significant impacts on all infrastructure," said Kerwin Olson, executive director of Citizens Action Coalition, a consumer advocacy group in Indiana that focuses on energy.

And as extreme weather events like this polar vortex that battered the middle of the country become more frequent , it underscores the urgency to make sure states are prepared, Olson said.

Still, he added, "We are extremely different from Texas."

What caused the Texas blackouts

Texas' infrastructure wasn't built to withstand the freezing, single-digit temperatures that hit the state earlier this week. Demand for energy skyrocketed past worst-case scenario expectations at the same time supply to the system plummeted.

Pipelines and gas wellheads froze, equipment stopped working and power plants shut down. More than half of the state's winter generating capacity - or 46,000 megawatts - went offline.

That left nearly 4.5 million customers without electricity on Tuesday and some 560,000 Texans still didn't have the lights turned on by Thursday morning, according to poweroutage.us.

Many have raised questions as to why the state's grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, didn't require its generators to have winter weather protections.

In a media call on Wednesday, ERCOT officials said while there are best practices for weatherization - established by the North American Electric Reliability Corp. after an investigation into a 2011 cold spell - they are only guidelines and generators are not required generators to follow them. The Texas group voluntarily inspects some of their units for this weatherization, but does not require it.

In 2018, when a similar cold front rolled through Texas, these measures appeared to help. But this year has shown another result.
PHOTOS: Indianapolis digs out after 9.5 inches of snow blankets the city
"This even more extreme cold weather event that's happened in the last few days occurred, and apparently, those (measures) were not sufficient to keep these generators online," said Dan Woodfin, ERCOT senior director for systems operations during the call.

Now, several days out, the primary issue appears to be a lack of fuel delivery to natural gas plants. Some lines remain frozen and the fuel that is available is being prioritized for gas heating over electricity generation, according to experts.

ERCOT has not been able to predict when full power will be restored.

The power outages will be investigated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the North American Electric Reliability Corp., both groups announced Tuesday.

How Indiana's power system differs from Texas'

The country is divided into three main grids: one that covers the eastern states, one that covers the western U.S. and then the Texas grid.

Texas' power grid, which covers nearly the whole state, is separate from the rest of the country. The independent system in the Lone Star state was part of an effort to avoid federal regulation in the 1930s.

In some cases, that's a good thing for the state: It helps to simplify regulatory processes. But in situations like this, it can hurt, said Doug Gotham, director of the State Utility Forecasting Group at Purdue University.

Because Texas' grid is isolated, the state can't rely as much on neighbors for importing power, Gotham said. Indiana, on the other hand, could likely resolve power outages more quickly because of its connection to other states.

Indiana is covered by two regional transmission organizations called the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, or MISO, and PJM Interconnection. These organizations monitor, coordinate and control multi-state power grids to get power from where it's produced to where it's needed.

"Indiana is the Crossroads of America for more than just roads," said Stephanie Hodgin, a spokeswoman for the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission. "We have many interstate transmission gas lines and electric lines that intersect the state, which allow us to be able to import and export more easily."

That's what's happened with the recent vortex, according to MISO spokesman Brandon Morris. The organization's North and Central regions, which include Indiana, continue to export energy to the South region that includes most of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and a few small areas of Southeast Texas.

Still, that regional structure could also mean Indiana is impacted by power failures in other states in what Gotham called a "cascading outage."
Forecast: After storm, more snow and frigid temperatures are in the forecast for Central Indiana
This happened in 2003, when eight states and parts of Canada lost power after a tree branch near Cleveland touched a power line. Unbeknownst to Ohio energy company First Energy, the crashed power line increased loads on other power lines, creating a domino-like effect that led a small blackout to becoming a much, much larger one. After five minutes, it shut down 263 power plants. Other than two small plants, Indiana was largely untouched by the power failure.

It was the largest blackout in North American history. MISO, based out of Carmel, was held partially responsible for failing to alert power companies.

Mostly, though, the interconnected grid reduces the chance of one state going down, Gotham said.

"The idea behind the interconnected network and relying on your neighbors is that most of the time you'll prevent the local issues more so than you'll cause some type of larger issue," he said.

Indiana utilities have regulatory oversight

There's another difference between Indiana and a state like Texas that Olson with the Citizens Action Coalition said is often overlooked: The regulatory structure.

Indiana is a regulated and fully-integrated state, which means utilities own and operate all electricity from generation to the meter. In regulated states, utilities must abide by the electricity rates that are set by the state's regulatory commission. That means there is no free market competition and this structure is often seen as a monopoly. It does, however, provide long-term certainty and stable prices.

Texas, on the other hand, is the "exact opposite," Olson said, "and is easily the most competitive electric grid in the market."

It's a deregulated state, which opens things up for who can produce and sell energy - letting different players come in to create competition. That benefits customers by allowing them to compare rates and services and pick the best fit for them.

But that financial and regulatory structure also puts an emphasis on cheap prices over reliable service, offering little incentive for power plant operators to ready themselves for winter weather.

"One of the major concerns of deregulation is you remove that obligation to serve," Olson said. "Our utilities have the statutory obligation to provide service and ensure the lights come on, unlike Texas."

Indiana's utilities are constantly preparing for this type of weather, according to Danielle McGrath, president of the Indiana Energy Association, which represents the state's electric and natural gas utilities.

That comes with being part of a regional transmission group and regulated by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, she said. There are surveys and planning that happens on a regular basis requiring utilities to spell out the capacity they have on hand and if it will be adequate to meet demand.

"That's one thing that's happening all the time to make sure we are able to meet the needs of customers at the end of the day," McGrath said.

The IURC said they can't speak specifically to what has caused the conditions in Texas, but said that at a "high-level," Texas is facing challenges because it is experiencing Indiana-like weather conditions.

"Indiana is, of course, prepared for Indiana-like weather conditions and units have invested in weatherization infrastructure," said commission spokeswoman Hodgin.

How extreme weather could impact Indiana power

Texas power plants aren't designed to withstand extreme cold, Gotham pointed out, as many of them run on water that freezes in severe weather.
Driving tips: The snow is back, Indiana. Here's how to drive in it like you've got some sense
This isn't the case in Indiana, but that doesn't mean Indiana power systems are immune to severe events.

Brandi Davis-Handy, spokesperson for IPL, said the utility's facilities are designed to operate smoothly in extreme weather. This includes heat tracing and insulating pipes and equipment for winter, as well as ventilation and cooling in the summer.

"A lot of planning and preparation is performed annually for winter and summer peak periods to ensure IPL can keep the lights on for its customers," Davis-Handy said.

Gotham said every power outage he can think of in Indiana has happened because something interrupted the transfer of power from the generator to the customer. Usually, he said, this happens when storms come through and cause damage to power lines or other material - a much quicker fix than the situation in Texas, where officials may have to wait for weather to warm enough to thaw equipment.

Another way weather could impact power would be during a summer drought. Some generators rely on cooling water from a riverbed, and if that riverbed were to dry up it could curtail the output of that power plant, Gotham said.

Rumors blaming wind energy for blackouts are false

Shortly after power outages started on Monday, rumors - repeated by many state politicians, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott - began circulating that the blackouts were caused by frozen wind turbines.

That wasn't the case.

In actuality, the majority of failures came from natural gas, coal and other thermal sources, ERCOT officials said. Frozen wind turbines and the iced over solar panels accounted for about 40% of the megawatts that went offline.

"We had generating units of every type that for different reasons went offline during this event," Woodfin said in Wednesday's media call. "In different ways, the very cold weather and snow has impacted every type of generator."

Concerns have been raised during Indiana's legislative session in recent years about the reliability of renewable sources. Some lawmakers have said the state should keep coal and natural gas around for that reason. But those calls are unfounded, said Leah Rubin Shen, the Indiana Director of Advanced Energy Economy, a member organization that advocates on the economic potential of clean energy.

"This is impacting all kinds of power sources and in a way this highlights the risk of over-reliance on fossil fuels that need to be delivered like coal and natural gas," she said.

There are ways to equip wind turbines to withstand this type of event. Indiana's are weatherized and wind turbines operate smoothly in places as harsh as Antarctica. It's actually easier to make them more robust for this weather rather than preparing a coal or natural gas plant, according to Rubin Shen.

Regardless, it does show "that when you have a more robust mix of technology on the grid, it improves resilience," she said. "Indiana is currently around 70% reliant on coal, and that's a lot to put on one fuel source."

McGrath agrees that diversification is good for a state, and Indiana's utilities are continuing to bring in new generation sources. She said as an "all-of-the-above-state," Indiana is well positioned for situations like this.

"At the end of the day, we are still learning about what is happening out there and what went wrong," McGrath said. "But I think there will be lots of lessons to be learned from this."

Weaknesses to the power grid exist across the country

Texas' blackouts are an extreme example of the strain put on electric grids during inclement weather. But as climate change progresses, extreme weather events will become more and more common.

Energy advocates for years have been pushing for changes that would protect energy sources during severe cold, heat and flooding events. Some of these changes could be as simple as a tweak in calculations.

An issue facing all power grid operators, Nateghi of Purdue said, is adequately preparing for changes in climate. Right now, operators are underestimating the demand for energy they will see during extreme cold and heat waves.

They're also not taking into account interdependencies in the system: You need water to generate electricity, and you need electricity to transport water, and so on and so forth, Nateghi said.

"Even though these interdependencies are growing, they're not fully accounted for when we plan and manage and operate the systems," she said. "And when the system is really stressed from an extreme event like it is in Texas, then we're seeing natural gas shortages which exacerbate the whole impact."

President Joe Biden's administration plans to push for upgrades, including weather protections, as part of a "historic investment" in electric grids across the country. The administration is anticipated to release an infrastructure spending plan in the coming weeks.

IPL has plans for investing $1.2 billion in modernizing its power grid, Davis-Handy said, which includes replacing old infrastructure and upgrades to self-healing capabilities that allow the grid to use sensors to analyzeand automatically respond to problems.

The utility urges customers to be aware of their energy use during extreme temperatures. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, almost half of annual energy consumption is used to heat homes during the winter months.
Call IndyStar reporter Sarah Bowman at 317-444-6129 or email at sarah.bowman@indystar.com. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook: @IndyStarSarah. Contact IndyStar reporter London Gibson at 317-419-1912 or lbgibson@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @londongibson. Connect with IndyStar's environmental reporters: Join The Scrub on Facebook. IndyStar's environmental reporting project is made possible through the generous support of the nonprofit Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.
Nateghi, who researches sustainability and resilience of infrastructure, said other solutions such as upgraded equipment and infrastructure may not be as cost-effective, but are still crucial. She also acknowledges that the pressure to implement improvements is often put on utilities, but that government support, as well as partnerships with institutions and the private sector, can play an important role in funding necessary changes.

However they're done, she said, changes need to be made.

"If we continue down the paradigm of what we've done before ... we are going to see more extremes," Nateghi said. "These stories are going to just keep playing, and perhaps even more frequently."

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The polar vortex has left millions of Texans without power. Could the same happen to Hoosiers?

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The same winter storm that blew more than 8 inches of snow into Indianapolis on Monday hit Texas - and hit it hard. The southern state reached record-breaking cold temperatures and residents cranking up the heat overwhelmed power generators. Millions of households lost electricity, and many have now been without power and heat for days.

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The NYPD have deployed more than 600 officers to patrol the subway systems after 2 homeless people were fatally stabbed. The deployed officers will patrol the platforms, inspect train cars, secure the entryways, and ride in the subway cars to prevent any future incidents.

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Two people were killed and four were injured over the weekend.

Advocates for homeless people have raised concerns about the move to deploy more than 600 New York City uniformed police officers to patrol the subway system in the wake of deadly stabbings.

Two people were killed and four were injured in a rash of stabbing attacks over the weekend. All of the victims appeared to be homeless.

Transit Chief Kathleen O'Reilly said 644 officers will patrol platforms, inspect trains, secure entryways and ride in subway cars for the "foreseeable future."

But homeless advocates argued the heavy police presence won't protect those in need of shelter.

"Mayor de Blasio and Governor Cuomo need to respond not with more stigmatization and callousness toward people without homes, or heavy-handed police removals, but with real and immediate access to housing for unsheltered New Yorkers," Giselle Routhier, policy director at the Coalition for the Homeless in New York, told ABC News.

She pointed out that officials have promised time and time again to prevent violent crimes like last weekend's stabbings from occurring.

"These devastating attacks are a reminder that failing to offer the dignity and safety of a real home during this historic pandemic is literally a matter of life and death," she added.

The Salvation Army Greater New York Division also slammed the move to increase the number of officers on subways.

"The vast majority of unhoused people are peaceful and penalizing poverty will not solve the homeless crisis in New York City," a Salvation Army spokesperson told ABC News.

The organization said a more effective solution to protecting the vulnerable homeless population is to allocate funds to "expand safe, non-congregate housing for people experiencing homelessness" that will "restore safety and dignity to all."

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) closed the subway overnight during the pandemic, essentially kicking out homeless people who often flock to subway stations for warmth in the cold winter months.

Rigoberto Lopez, 21, who police say is homeless, was arrested and charged with the murder of two people on the A subway line last weekend, according to local ABC affiliate WABC.

Other violent incidents have also been reported over the past few months.

Last week a man was stabbed on the 1 train platform at the Christopher Street station in Manhattan and in January a person was caught on body camera footage trying to shove a woman in front of a moving train.

O'Reilly said the new group of patrol officers include 331 Transit Bureau officers and 313 Patrol Bureau cops and they'll be spread out across the subway system, especially for morning and evening rushes.

She assured the public the Big Apple's public transit system "remains one of the safest large transit systems in the world," adding, "When a crime does occur, our officers move swiftly to make immediate arrests."

The influx of officers is still less than the additional 1,000 officers the MTA asked for.

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Homeless advocates slam NYPD deployment of more than 600 officers to patrol subways after stabbings

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Two people were killed and four were injured over the weekend. Advocates for homeless people have raised concerns about the move to deploy more than 600 New York City uniformed police officers to patrol the subway system in the wake of deadly stabbings.

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Senator Cruz is slammed for traveling to Mexico for family vacation as Texas suffers extreme weather. He has yet to release a statement about his decisions.

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Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has traveled to Mexico for a family vacation as his home state struggles with a powerful winter storm that's left many residents without power or safe drinking water

DALLAS -- Texas Sen. Ted Cruz traveled to Mexico on Wednesday for a family vacation as his home state struggled with a powerful winter storm that left many residents without power or safe drinking water.

The high-profile Republican lawmaker went for a long-planned trip to Cancun and was expected to return almost immediately, according to a source with direct knowledge of the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share private conversations.

Spokespersons for Cruz's office did not immediately respond to request for comment Wednesday night or Thursday.

The revelation opens Cruz, a key ally of former President Donald Trump, to fierce bipartisan criticism in Texas and beyond as he contemplates the possibility of a second presidential run in 2024. The two-term senator's current term expires in early 2025.

"That's something that he has to answer to his constituents about," state Republican Party Chairman Allen West said when asked whether Cruz's travel was appropriate while Texans are without power and water.

"I'm here trying to take care of my family and look after my friends and others that are still without power," West said. "That's my focus."

Hundreds of thousands of people in Texas woke up Thursday to a fourth day without power, and a water crisis was unfolding after winter storms wreaked havoc on the state's power grid and utilities.

Texas officials ordered 7 million people - one-quarter of the population of the nation's second-largest state - to boil tap water before drinking the water, after days of record low temperatures that damaged infrastructure and froze pipes.

In Austin, some hospitals faced a loss in water pressure and in some cases, heat.

Cruz's office has declined to release any details about the family vacation, but his staff reached out to the Houston Police Department on Wednesday afternoon to say the senator would be arriving at the airport, according to department spokeswoman Jodi Silva. She said officers "monitored his movements" while Cruz was at the airport.

Silva could not say whether such requests are typical for Cruz's travel or whether his staff has made a similar request for his return flight.

U.S. Capitol Police officials and the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms have encouraged lawmakers and their staff to be conscious of potential threats and to consider advising law enforcement about their travel at airports and other transportation hubs.

Cruz has been demonized by the left even before he ran for president in 2016. In more recent years, he has positioned himself as a Trump loyalist with an eye toward a potential second White House bid.

The Texas senator, who once described Trump as a "pathological liar," championed the-then president's call to block the certification last month of Democrat Joe Biden's election victory. That stand led to calls for Cruz's resignation after a violent mob stormed the Capitol as Congress was affirming Biden's win.

"Ted Cruz had already proven to be an enemy to our democracy by inciting an insurrection. Now, he is proving to be an enemy to our state by abandoning us in our greatest time of need," Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa said Thursday. "For the 21st time, the Texas Democratic Party calls on Ted Cruz to resign or be expelled from office."

Cruz's office dismissed calls for his resignation earlier in the month.

"The left - and some grifters on the right - are consumed by partisan anger and rage," his office said in a written statement. "Sen. Cruz will continue to work for 29 million Texans in the Senate."

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Peoples reported from New York.

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AP source: Cruz on vacation in Mexico as storm slams Texas

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Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has traveled to Mexico for a family vacation as his home state struggles with a powerful winter storm that's left many residents without power or safe drinking water DALLAS -- Texas Sen.

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Russian activist Alexi Navalney was sentenced to two and a half years imprisionment for being an anti-Putin activist. He was sentenced for "undesirable" organization by Russian authorities.

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A Russian court has handed a suspended sentence to an activist accused of membership of an "undesirable" organization, part of the authorities' effort to tighten control over the nation's political scene

MOSCOW -- A Russia n court on Thursday handed a suspended sentence to an activist accused of membership of an "undesirable" organization, part of the authorities' effort to tighten control over the nation's political scene.

Anastasia Shevchenko, 41, was accused of engaging in political activities under the aegis of Open Russia, a group funded by self-exiled Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Khodorkovsky moved to London after spending 10 years in prison in Russia on charges widely seen as political revenge for challenging Putin's rule.

Prosecutors had asked the court in Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia to sentence Shevchenko to five years in prison, but the court handed her a four-year suspended term.

Shevchenko, a mother of two who has been under house arrest for two years, has denied the accusations as political punishment for her opposition views. When she was put under house arrest in January 2019, the authorities waited for several days before letting Shevchenko visit her elder teenage daughter who was in critical condition at a hospital and died a day after she finally was allowed to see her.

Shevchenko's case has attracted broad nationwide attention, marking the first attempt by authorities to prosecute under a 2015 law introducing criminal punishment for membership in "undesirable" organizations. The government has used the law to ban about 30 groups, including Open Russia, as "undesirable."

It followed another law that obliged non-government organizations that receive foreign funding and engage in activities loosely described as political to register as "foreign agents."

The laws have been widely criticized as part of the Kremlin's efforts to stifle dissent, but the Russian authorities have described them as a due response to the alleged Western efforts to undermine the country.

Amnesty International, which has declared Shevchenko a prisoner of conscience, denounced the court's verdict, emphasizing that she has committed no crime.

"This decision is a travesty of justice," Natalya Zviagina, the head of the group's Moscow office, said in a statement. "She should have never been deprived of liberty in the first place, as she was criminally persecuted solely for peacefully exercising her human rights. Her conviction must be quashed."

Zviagina called for the abolition of laws on "undesirable organizations" and "foreign agents," saying that they "have been wantonly abused to crush peaceful dissent."

"The Russian authorities' politically motivated persecution of peaceful activists must stop immediately," she said.

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Russian court sentences activist under law on 'undesirables'

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A Russian court has handed a suspended sentence to an activist accused of membership of an "undesirable" organization, part of the authorities' effort to tighten control over the nation's political scene MOSCOW -- A Russia n court on Thursday handed a suspended sentence to an activist accused of membership of an "undesirable" organization, part of the authorities' effort to tighten control over the nation's political scene.

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The CDC said that the average lifespan of modern humans has dropped one year during just the first half of 2020 due to COVID 19.

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Life expectancy in the United States dropped a full year during the first half of 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic took hold of the nation, according to provisional estimates in a new report published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average time a baby born today is expected to live. From January through June of last year, that was 77.8 years for the entire U.S. population, down from 78.8 years in 2019. It's the lowest level since 2006, the report said.

The decline in life expectancy was seen across racial and ethnic groups but was most severe in minorities, with Black Americans losing 2.7 years (from 74.7 to 72.0) and Hispanic Americans losing 1.9 years (from 81.8 to 79.9) during the same period. Meanwhile, white Americans lost less than a year (from 78.8 to 78.0), according to the report.

William Samuels delivers caskets to the Gerard J. Neufeld funeral home in the Queens borough of New York City on March 27, 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Hispanic Americans traditionally have the most longevity compared to other racial and ethnic groups in the U.S., and provisional estimates show they still do. Hispanics saw their "advantage" in this regard compared to Black Americans increase from 7.1 years in 2019 to 7.9. years in the first six months of 2020, the report said.

White Americans saw their life expectancy advantage compared to Blacks increase by a staggering 46%, from 4.1 to 6 years, reversing a trend that had been narrowing the gap between the two races since 1993. It's the largest gap in life expectancy between white and Black populations in the U.S. since 1998. Conversely, the gap between Hispanic Americans and white Americans decreased by 37%, from 3 to 1.9 years, according to the report.

"Another consequence of the decreased life expectancy estimates observed during the first half of 2020 was a worsening of racial and ethnic mortality disparities," the report noted.

Chart shows the change in estimated life expectancy in the United States from 2019 to the first half of 2020.

The preliminary report did not analyze life expectancy trends for Asian Americans or Native Americans.

Life expectancy in men in the U.S. fell 1.2 years over the same period (from 76.3 to 75.1), while for women it declined just under a year (from 81.4 to 80.5), according to the report.

The provisional estimates were calculated by the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics using death records in the U.S. from January through June 2020. Although the mortality data used in the report includes more than 99% of the deaths that occurred during that period, the report noted that the estimates "do not reflect the entirety of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020."

A health care worker places a "COVID Patient" sticker on a body bag holding a deceased patient at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in the Mission Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 9. 2021.

Importantly, the recent surge in COVID-19 infections over the winter months -- as well as the seasonality in mortality -- is not accounted for in the data. The data also hinges on the timely submission of death certificates, which may have been delayed due to pandemic-related logistical reasons, the report said.

It's the first time that the CDC has published life expectancy estimates using provisional data. Additional death certificates from that period may yet come in or death certificate information may later be revised, the report noted. It's already known that 2020 was the deadliest year on record in the U.S., with overall deaths -- mainly due to COVID-19 -- topping 3 million for the first time.
ABC News' Dr. Abarna Ramanathan contributed to this report.

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US life expectancy drops 1 year in first half of 2020 amid coronavirus pandemic, CDC says

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Life expectancy in the United States dropped a full year during the first half of 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic took hold of the nation, according to provisional estimates in a new report published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Australia is forcing tech platforms to pay for news. Google originally threatened to leave how ever they have come to a compromise and are now paying for their news. Other countries are now also considering these new rules. Canada and Europe have stated their support.

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Pathbreaking legislation showed that even a small nation can get the tech giant to bend. But the United States seems unlikely to follow.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and other conservative politicians in Australia are closely aligned with powerful media companies that have pushed for compensation from tech platforms for years. Credit... Dean Lewins/EPA, via Shutterstock

SYDNEY, Australia - Just a few weeks after Google threatened to leave Australia if the government forced tech platforms to pay for news, the search giant is suddenly showering money on its most demanding critics.

With groundbreaking legislation expected to pass this week or next, Google has sought to blunt the impact by striking deals of its own with media companies, including two in recent days worth tens of millions of dollars a year. Another, with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, was announced on Wednesday in a three-year arrangement that includes content from The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, MarketWatch and The New York Post.

Media companies have complained for years that they are not fairly compensated for articles and other content that generate ad revenue for platforms like Google and Facebook, complaints that tech companies have largely ignored. Google's rush to pay up in Australia shows how regulation in a relatively small country - or just the threat of it - can sharply alter the behavior of a global tech behemoth that grew with impunity back home in the United States.

The question is how far other governments will go in compelling tech platforms to pay for news. A few officials in Canada and Europe have expressed some support for the approach, and a handful of countries are taking action on their own.

But in the United States, journalism seems to have fewer friends in the halls of power. There, regulatory momentum has been moving in other directions, focused on potential antitrust cases or legislation that would hold companies accountable for what is posted on their platforms.

"The Australian regulatory experiment is highly interesting," said Daniel Gervais, a former legal officer at the World Trade Organization who now teaches at Vanderbilt Law School in Tennessee. "If it succeeds, I think it will be followed by several other countries, but I doubt that the U.S. will be at the top of that list."

Even those who support Australia's proposal admit that it has grown out of an unusual dynamic. Australia has a long history of market intervention, from high wages to strict gun laws, and soft protectionism for favored companies like the country's four major banks.

It also has one of the most concentrated media industries in the world, dominated by News Corp. And many of the most powerful media figures, including Mr. Murdoch, are closely aligned with the conservative politicians who run the country.

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Melanie Silva, the managing director of Google Australia and New Zealand, appearing via video link during an Australian Senate inquiry last month. Credit... Mick Tsikas/Australian Associated Press, via Associated Press

News Corp has been pushing for compensation from tech platforms for years, while also beating the drum for Prime Minister Scott Morrison ever since he took over in 2018 in an intraparty coup fueled by coverage in the company's newspapers and on its television stations.

Josh Frydenberg, who as federal treasurer would have enormous discretion over the new legislation, has media ties of his own. In 2016, he was the best man at the wedding of Ryan Stokes, who is a son of Kerry Stokes, the billionaire owner of Seven West Media, one of the companies that have reached a deal with Google.

In short, it's no surprise that the Australian government sees America's tech companies, which have done themselves no favors by trying to sidestep local taxes, as less worthy of support than the dominant national media.

"We've got this peculiar symbiotic thing between the news business and the government of the day," said Jim Minifie, an economist with Lateral Economics, a consulting firm that specializes in digital public policy. "There is a more natural alliance between the center-right government and the news that influences things."

The legislation being considered includes a code of conduct that would allow media companies to bargain individually or collectively with digital platforms over the value of their news content. The code is intended to address "bargaining power imbalances" between the two sides, partly by forcing disputes into a final arbitration process. It would apply at first only to Facebook and Google, though other digital platforms could be added.

Inside Google's Australia offices, nearly everything about the law inspires dismay; the process has often been described as a shakedown led by powerful insiders, as if Google were a vulnerable start-up. The frustration goes both ways, with some Australian politicians calling Google's threat to leave the country little more than blackmail.

But Paul Fletcher, the communications minister, said the Sturm und Drang overlooked the fact that the process began more than three years ago. The proposed code, which was originally designed to be voluntary, has evolved to become mandatory and tougher, he said, because that is what is needed to make the giant platforms pay closer attention to the value of credible information from established outlets.

The communications minister, Paul Fletcher, said the relationship between media companies and tech platforms had become unbalanced. Credit... Lukas Coch/EPA, via Shutterstock

The code would apply only to media companies that registered and were approved as legitimate, making the government a convener of commercial deals - a role it already plays with the electricity market and other industries that require incentives to cooperate.

"The overwhelming thrust of this has been to get the parties to the table and have commercial negotiations," Mr. Fletcher said in an interview.

Google's furious lobbying against the law has included not just threats to leave Australia but also extensive use of its own platform. On many days in recent months, major Australian news sites were buried in Google search results in what the company called an "experiment."

All of it appears to have failed. The House of Representatives passed the bill on Wednesday night, and Mr. Fletcher said the government believed it had the votes it needed in the Senate.

With the writing on the wall, Google has suddenly become more amenable to compromise. The deals with the Australian media companies, while not fully public, appear to be similar in size to one that Google made last month in France, where a European copyright law has been used as a cudgel.

Google's chief executive, Sundar Pichai. The company has lobbied furiously against the proposed legislation. Credit... Brandon Wade/Reuters

The payments could buy the company time, or even a reprieve. If enough deals are done, Mr. Frydenberg has said, he could exclude Google from the code at least for now, allowing it to achieve its top priority: retaining the power to decide how much information is worth.

"A crude analogy is that the treasurer has a gun with the name Google written on it, but has decided to keep it locked in his drawer for now," said Tama Leaver, an internet studies professor at Curtin University in Perth.

Many argue that, even in a highly concentrated and mildly compromised media market, a serious threat was required.

"There is a sense of realpolitik for this, but the outcome is positive," said Peter Lewis, director of the Center for Responsible Technology at the Australia Institute, an independent research group. "It's a significant injection of money into a sector that has lost 5,000 jobs over a decade, and it's only happening because of the threat of this legislation."

It may also be the beginning of a broader reckoning. Facebook would still be subject to the code, other companies could also be designated, and the lengthy government report that led to the legislation also included recommendations for laws that would give people more control over their personal data and do more to force platforms to manage misinformation.

"There's a solid base of competition policy and analysis underpinning what we're doing here," Mr. Fletcher said. "There are a number of areas where Australia has sought to put in place regulatory frameworks in relation to the internet which are perhaps different to what is being done in other countries and in some ways ahead."

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Google Is Suddenly Paying for News in Australia. What About Everywhere Else?

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Pathbreaking legislation showed that even a small nation can get the tech giant to bend. But the United States seems unlikely to follow. SYDNEY, Australia - Just a few weeks after Google threatened to leave Australia if the government forced tech platforms to pay for news, the search giant is suddenly showering money on its most demanding critics.

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A fuel tanker exploded on the Iran-Afghanistan border and caught more than 500 cars on fire. There were at least 17 people injured and taken to the hospital, but there is no further information about casualties.

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More than 500 vehicles burst into flames at the Afghanistan-Iranian border Saturday afternoon after a fuel truck there exploded, provincial officials told Afghanistan's TOLO News.

The blaze took place at the customs office in Islam Qala, in Afghanistan's western province of Herat.

Photos from the scene show tall flames and plumes of thick black smoke, visible even from a distance.

At least 17 people were injured and taken to the Islam Qala clinic and Herat Regional Hospital, according to Mohammad Rafiq Sherzai, spokesman for the Herat public health department. No further information is available yet on casualties.

"Everyone was terrified. They were escaping. Cars were stuck," eyewitness Khalil Ahmad told TOLO News.

Herat Gov. Waheed Qatali said officials had sought help from Iran, as the Afghan side lacked the resources to put out the huge blaze.

Iran will dispatch relief and rescue teams to the region to assist in the emergency response efforts, as requested by Herat officials, according to the Iranian state-run IRNA news agency.

Iranian state-run Press TV reported that the damage was on the Afghan side of the border and did not affect Iranian customs.

"Up to now there has been no report about damage on Dogharoon border terminal," said Omid Jahankhah, supervisor of customs offices in Iran's Razavi Khorasan province, according to Press TV.

According to Press TV, Iran is a major supplier of goods to Afghanistan and that the terminals are often packed with fuel tankers.

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international relations and national security

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500 vehicles in flames after fuel tanker explodes on Afghanistan-Iran border | CNN

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More than 500 vehicles burst into flames at the Afghanistan-Iranian border Saturday afternoon after a fuel truck there exploded, provincial officials told Afghanistan's TOLO News. The blaze took place at the customs office in Islam Qala, in Afghanistan's western province of Herat.

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Currently, the centre of Europe is the new hotspot for Covid-19. Because of the recent mutation/variant of Covid-19 (discovered in South Africa), it has been spreading crazily in Austria and Czech Republic. Germany was forced by its neighbouring countries to announce its new border controls. Although Germany has seen a drop of about 3000 cases, Austria and Czech Republic has not seen any results of cases dropping. Soldiers and local police have been sent to patrol the borders for ten (10) days. The parliament in Czech Republic refuses to extend the restrictions-- even though cases are on the rise. This has caused a minor political crisis.

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germany imposes border checks as austria

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czech republic struggle to contain the coronavirus - cnn

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Germany, fearing new coronavirus variants, imposes border checks with Austria and Czech Republic

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Central Europe has become the continent's latest coronavirus hotspot, with Austria struggling to containf the new variant first identified in South Africa and neighboring Czech Republic facing hospital bed shortages on top of a crisis over lockdowns.

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The Lutheran university has joined in with many schools and other professional sports teams in replacing racist mascots. They have announced that they will be replacing their mascot, the Crusader, because of its usage by hate groups, one of them being an official Ku Klux Klan newspaper.

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valparaiso university retires 'crusader' mascot

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An Indiana university retires its mascot that shares a name with the Ku Klux Klan newspaper

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Students who attend Valparaiso University are Crusaders no more. The Lutheran university, aligning with schools and professional sports teams that have recently nixed racist mascots, has announced it will replace its mascot, the Crusader, because of its usage by hate groups.

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The Pacific northwest is putting 8 million people under winter weather alerts. Cities like Seattle and Portland are supposed to get at least 7 inches of snow and it will be put on the list of top 10 snowiest single days. There is also and ice storm warning in effects for the western part of Oregon. There is expected to be 2 to 3 feet of snow by Valentines Day.

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snow will pile up across the northwest this weekend - cnn

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The Northwest could see a year's worth of snow this weekend

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Portland, Seattle and other Northwest cities will get unusual amounts of snow through the weekend. The second storm of three is expected through Saturday and will be the biggest of all. It will possibly bring record setting snow and icy conditions to the region.

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An 8 year old border collie is living a good life in Nashville after inheriting 5 million dollars in his owners will.
“He just really loved the dog,” said Burton, who was friends with Dorris and would take care of the dog when he traveled.
She says she doesn't know if she could ever spend $5 million on Lulu. “Well, I’d like to try," she said with a smile.

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A Tennessee canine won't have to worry about living a dog's life after its owner recently died

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- It won't be a dog's life for a Tennessee canine whose owner recently died.

Lulu, an 8-year-old border collie, will be living the good life in Nashville after inheriting $5 million in her owner's will, WTVF-TV reported.

Martha Burton, Lulu's caretaker, told the station Lulu's owner, Bill Dorris, was a successful businessman who wasn't married and died late last year. His will states the money should be put into a trust for Lulu's care. It allows for Burton to be reimbursed for reasonable monthly expenses in the care of Lulu.

"He just really loved the dog," said Burton, who was friends with Dorris and would take care of the dog when he traveled.

She says she doesn't know if she could ever spend $5 million on Lulu.

"Well, I'd like to try," she said with a smile.

Dorris owned land along Interstate 65 where a controversial statue of Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest is located. The fate of the statue and the rest of the estate may be determined in probate court, the news outlet reported.

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Tennessee man leaves $5 million to pet border collie

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A Tennessee canine won't have to worry about living a dog's life after its owner recently died NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- It won't be a dog's life for a Tennessee canine whose owner recently died. Lulu, an 8-year-old border collie, will be living the good life in Nashville after inheriting $5 million in her owner's will, WTVF-TV reported.

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Vincent Richardson was arrested for the third time Wednesday for impersonating a police officer. He was first arrested at the age of 14 for the exact same thing that he just got arrested for.

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The Senate in Mississippi is banning transgender athletes on female teams. Mississippi is one of 12 states with lawmakers that are proposing restrictions on athletics or gender confirming health care for transgender minors this year. Joe Biden signed an executive order on January 20, that banned discrimination based on gender identity in school sports and elsewhere.

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A large crash involving over 100 cars has left more than 6 people dead in Texas.

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The accident scene covers about 1.5 miles.

Multiple people are trapped following a freeway pileup in Fort Worth, Texas, according to the Fort Worth Fire Department.

The number of people trapped was not immediately clear.

The accident scene covers about 1.5 miles, ABC Dallas affiliate WFAA reported.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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Multiple people trapped following freeway pileup in Texas: Officials

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The accident scene covers about 1.5 miles. Multiple people are trapped following a freeway pileup in Fort Worth, Texas, according to the Fort Worth Fire Department. The number of people trapped was not immediately clear. The accident scene covers about 1.5 miles, ABC Dallas affiliate WFAA reported. This is a developing story.

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The CDC now says that people who have been fully vaccinated do not have to quarantine after being exposed to COVID-19. Although they still need to watch out for symptoms that may lead the being quarantined. They also still need to wear a mask around in public. They are recommending you double up on masks but cloth masks are 95% efficient.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday said that those who are fully vaccinated against coronavirus and who "meet criteria" will no longer be required to quarantine following exposure to someone with COVID-19. The CDC said the update applies to fully vaccinated people who have received the last dose within the previous three months, and have remained asymptomatic since the COVID-19 exposure.

"Persons who do not meet all three of the above criteria should continue to follow current quarantine guidance after exposure to someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19," the agency stated while noting that while the risk of transmission from vaccinated persons remains uncertain, vaccines have been shown to prevent symptomatic COVID-19.

"Additionally, individual and societal benefits of avoiding unnecessary quarantine may outweigh the potential but unknown risk of transmission, and facilitate the direction of public health resources to persons at highest risk for transmitting SARS-CoV-2 to others," the CDC stated.
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The agency advised that fully vaccinated persons who do not quarantine should still monitor for symptoms for 14 days following exposure and that those who do develop symptoms should still be evaluated and tested. It also recommends that fully vaccinated persons continue to adhere to public health measures.

Further down in the update the agency noted that vaccinated inpatients or those who are residents in health care settings should still quarantine following exposure due to a higher risk of severe disease and death among this population.
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"Although not preferred, healthcare facilities could consider waiving quarantine for vaccinated patients and residents as a strategy to mitigate critical issues when other options are unsuccessful or unavailable," the agency stated.
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The update was posted on the same day the CDC issued additional guidance regarding masks, which included data on wearing two masks rather than one. Specifically, the agency found wearing a cloth mask in addition to a surgical or medical mask was up to 95% effective at preventing aerosol transmission in a simulated lab experiment.

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Fully vaccinated persons don't need to quarantine post-coronavirus exposure, CDC says

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday said that those who are fully vaccinated against coronavirus and who "meet criteria" will no longer be required to quarantine following exposure to someone with COVID-19.