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Trinidadians in Texas are struggling in extremely cold temperatures caused by a severe winter storm that has reportedly led to the deaths of several people, animals and caused power outages and water restrictions.
Online reports said Texas has gone without water and electricity since Monday as residents were caught off guard by a drastic weather change. Another news article said this is the first time the state has ever experienced temperatures dropping below zero.
Up to Wednesday morning, millions of people were still without power and the water supply froze in the taps of many.
Thus far, the extreme weather has caused 21 deaths, according to the BBC news website. CNN reported several animals froze to death at the San Antonio Primarily Primates sanctuary.
The US National Weather Center urged residents to be careful when heading out, as streets remained icy and snowy across West Central Texas on Wednesday. Texas Storm Chasers, a weather forecast agency, posted on Wednesday on Twitter that the snow was up to four inches deep.
Sarojani Mohammed, a TT national living in Austin, said her family is doing everything possible to cope with conditions.
“We are trying to conserve, keeping our thermostat low and wearing layers. I have a four-year-old, and all work and daycare are closed.
"We've had intermittent water supply, though our water company has lost power, causing outages and low pressure. So we've been collecting water when we can, and just minimising use as much as we can.”
She said her brother in Houston has been using his fireplace to keep warm, but is running low on wood and is now concerned, as there is no telling when power will return.
She said he and his family "are now having to resort to burning any untreated wood in the house. ..We think we just found a firewood supplier who can deliver to them later today.
"My sister in Houston has had power and water through most of it, but just lost water today.
She said they were all having to stay where they were.
"The roads are too bad to drive to another place for warmth...None of us are considering leaving; roads are too icy, and Texas is too big to leave. Hotel rooms are also full.
"It's been rough and isn't going to get better until Friday, possibly. Mostly we're all just trying to sit tight and ride it out.”
Some people's electricity and water supplies were not affected by the storm, but they were trying to conserve supplies in case of a power outage.
One national who didn’t want to be named said the severe weather took residents by surprise. He has been using cooking gas to keep the stove lighted so that his family can keep warm.
He hopes conditions improve as the week continues.
“Everyone was caught off guard. We did have a warning ahead of time about a power outage for two hours at a time, and then they would rotate to a different area so no one would be without power too long.
"But then it turned into a situation where there were widespread power generation issues across the state – and this state is known as the power-generating state…
“In the coming days, we will have a better idea as to why the wind fans went down, why the coal power plant went down. We have a multi-power generation system in this state. Everyone is anxious to hear what went wrong and why all of it went down.”
Until the weather improves, he said, he will remain calm and be careful about using use the food, bottled water, and cooking gas his family still haveleft.
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