Chilling post after neighbour found frozen to death at home
A man has issued a grim warning to locals after the discovery of a man frozen to death in his home.
A ferocious winter storm and cold snap plunged parts of the US state into darkness as power outages left many people vulnerable without access to sufficient heating.
Among those to perish in the storm was a 60-year-old man who was found frozen to death in his home in the town of Abilene, in Texas, KTXS-12 reported.
The wife was also found at the home and rushed to hospital.
First responder crews noted the temperature inside the home felt as cold as the temperature outside, with the wife later saying the house had lost power for days.
A local farmer and produce grower named Josh Casey said he was heartbroken by the news and called on people to check in with their neighbours to potentially save a life.
"Please go check on your neighbours. A man froze to death in his recliner yesterday. His wife was beside him nearly dead," he wrote on Facebook.
However the Abilene Fire Department said the man was found dead in his bed.
"You guys read that? A man FROZE TO DEATH under our collective noses. In Abilene! I don't even know what to do with this information. Except to check on my immediate neighbours," Mr Casey said.
"If we all do it maybe we stop this from happening."
There have been at least 47 deaths linked to the storm, according to tracking by The Washington Post, but news of the 60-year-old's death drew a strong reaction among those on social media.
"A good friend of mine in Austin couldn’t get a hold of his dad by phone, and when he went over to his condo, his dad was hallucinating and not even shivering any more. Very lucky that his son checked," one person wrote, with others online suggesting the dad was displaying the first signs of hypothermia.
"Kind of messed up that this happens in an oil rich state. Still can't figure out why they don't have a back-up plan for power loss on this level," another said.
Grid failure 'absolutely unacceptable'
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on Thursday (local time) that all power generating plants in the state were back online but hundreds of thousands of homes remain without energy because of downed lines and other issues caused by the freak storm.
On Wednesday more than 2.7 million Texans were without power while 13 million were experiencing interruptions to their water services.
Abbott said he has asked state legislators to push through laws mandating that all energy generation plants in Texas “winterize” their facilities like those in colder states do in the hope that future cold snaps don’t result in electrical grid failures.
“What happened this week to our fellow Texans is absolutely unacceptable and can never be replicated again,” he said.
Gary Southern, a 68-year-old real estate broker from Mineral Wells lost power for nearly two full days.
“It was one of the worst things we’ve ever had to go through,” the lifelong Texan told Reuters.
“I know a lot of people in our community still don’t have [power] and are frustrated.”
with Reuters
Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.
