A woman and a girl died of suspected carbon monoxide poisoning after using their car to keep warm during the searing cold when millions of people in Houston, Texas, went out of power overnight.
A woman and a girl died of carbon monoxide poisoning
After midnight, when they found two adults and two children affected by carbon monoxide poisoning, the Houston Police Department said officers performed a health check in western Houston. According to Forbes, police suspect that when the exhaust gases dripped into the connected house, the family was driving their car inside their garage to keep warm. They found a woman dead inside the vehicle when police arrived and an 8-year-old girl dead inside the home.
Mid West officers and HFD were dispatched to 8300 La Roche on a welfare check. Upon making entry they found two adults and two children affected by carbon monoxide poisoning. The adult female and female child did not survive. The adult male and male child were transported. pic.twitter.com/Fya63DSzLQ
— Houston Police (@houstonpolice) February 16, 2021
A man and a 7-year-old boy were found inside the house unconscious. They were rushed to the hospital in critical condition.
After severe power outages started Monday morning, this is the second reported carbon monoxide poisoning incident in Houston. On Monday afternoon, a family of six, including four kids, were hospitalized after allegedly using a charcoal grill to heat their apartment.
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One of the children is in serious condition, along with one of the adults. In the Houston area, over a million people were left without electricity overnight on Monday, the coldest night in the city since 1989. Officials warn of the risks of being poisoned with carbon monoxide.
Houston police Lt. Larry Crowson told local news outlet Click Houston, "You know it's a very difficult time, a lot of people are without power. I know it's cold, but you have to be careful about using generators or cars inside of garages. Carbon monoxide it's odorless and it can kill people."
When she got disoriented and passed out early Tuesday in Houston, the woman was sitting in a running car in the garage, news station KTRK reported. At the time, she was on the phone with a family who called officials, the police said.
Police arrived to find the woman dead in her car and the unresponsive 8-year-old girl in her condo connected to the garage, KTRK reported. It was not clear exactly what the girl's relationship with that woman was, as per NY Post.
Read also: 4th Grade Girl Dies Asleep 3 Days After Tested Positive for COVID-19, Family Says
Texas had massive power outages due to winter storm
As record-low temperatures disrupted the state's electricity system, a devastating winter storm battering the country's south and mid-section has left more than 4 million people without electricity in Texas. According to power outage.us, the areas worst affected by power outages are near Galveston and Houston.
The Houston Chronicle was forced to stop manufacturing its print version after its plant lost control at 2 AM, NBC News reported. The newspaper said in a note to readers that it hadn't yet happened since Hurricane Harvey hit the town in 2017.
Abilene, a city of around 170,000 residents, shut down its water systems due to power outages at all three of its water treatment facilities, officials tweeted. And the skyline in Dallas went dark in an attempt to conserve fuel. Over the weekend, at least 25 people have died from weather-related fatalities, the majority in Texas.
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