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Texas power outages fall below 1 million as winter storm blamed for over 30 deaths

Power outages in Texas dropped below 1 million on Thursday morning for the first time in four days, but millions were still without safe water after a historic storm now being blamed for more than 30 deaths.

As of early Thursday, more than 600,000 homes and businesses were still without electricity in the Lone Star State — down from about 3 million the day before and an earlier peak of more than 4 million.

But Texas’ grid manager has warned that the early-morning low could rise during hours of peak energy demand.

Many Texans rising to find power still have the misery of not having safe drinking water, if any water at all as pipes across the state have frozen.

It has particularly devastated some hospitals, forcing people to refrain from washing their hands despite it being the most basic safety measure, especially the coronavirus pandemic.

Texas officials ordered 7 million people — a quarter of the population of the nation’s second-largest state — to boil tap water before drinking it. Gov. Greg Abbott urged residents to shut off water to prevent more busted pipes and preserve pressure in municipal systems.

Volunteers help distribute water to local residents at a warming center and shelter after record-breaking winter temperatures in Texas on Feb. 17, 2021. REUTERS/Adrees Latif

The weather also disrupted water systems in several Southern cities, including in New Orleans and Shreveport, Louisiana, where city fire trucks delivered water to several hospitals, and bottled water was being brought in for patients and staff, Shreveport television station KSLA reported.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards sought a presidential emergency declaration Wednesday evening, seeking federal money and supplies in response to extended power outages in his state.

Hospital officials at St. David’s South Austin Medical Center said some patients at the facility would be moved over to other hospitals in the area after the building began losing heat due to low water pressure on Feb. 17, 2021. Bronte Wittpenn/Austin American-Statesman via AP

The historic extreme weather across large swathes of the US has now been blamed for the deaths of more than 30 people, The Associated Press said.

Officials suspect many more people have died — but their bodies have not been discovered yet.

Some perished while trying to keep warm inside their homes. In the Houston area, one family succumbed to carbon monoxide from car exhaust in their garage. A grandmother and three children died when flames escaped the fireplace they were using to keep warm.

Father John Szatkowski of St. Paul The Apostle Church sweeps water from a broken water line out of his church in Richardson, Texas, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021. AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez

“This is in many ways disasters within the disaster,” said Judge Lina Hidalgo, the top elected official in Harris County, which encompasses Houston. “The cascading effects are not going to go away.”

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), a cooperative responsible for 90% of the state’s electricity, claimed “progress” in getting power back on the grid, but the historic cold snap that crippled it will leave freezing temperatures for several more days, meteorologists warn.

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Austin Fire Department and ATCEMS respond to a house fire that left two people dead, one critically injured and three others with minor injuries on East 12th Street in Austin on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021 amid the historic cold streak.
Austin Fire Department and ATCEMS respond to a house fire that left two people dead, one critically injured and three others with minor injuries on East 12th Street in Austin on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021 amid the historic cold streak.AP
After seeing a posting on Facebook, a woman drove from Johnson County, Texas to collect some of the dumpsters-full of ice cream thrown out at a Southwest Arlington Kroger store on Feb. 17, 2021.
After seeing a posting on Facebook, a woman drove from Johnson County, Texas to collect some of the dumpsters-full of ice cream thrown out at a Southwest Arlington Kroger store on Feb. 17, 2021.Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News via AP
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Residents line up in their vehicles to enter a warming center and shelter after record-breaking winter temperatures in Galveston, Texas on Feb. 17, 2021.
Residents line up in their vehicles to enter a warming center and shelter after record-breaking winter temperatures in Galveston, Texas on Feb. 17, 2021.REUTERS/Adrees Latif
Overhead power lines are seen during record-breaking temperatures in Houston, Texas.
Overhead power lines are seen during record-breaking temperatures in Houston, Texas.REUTERS/Adrees Latif/File Photo
A mailbox is seen frozen in a snow covered neighborhood in Waco, Texas as severe winter weather conditions over the last few days has forced road closures and power outages over the state on February 17, 2021.
A mailbox is seen frozen in a snow covered neighborhood in Waco, Texas as severe winter weather conditions over the last few days has forced road closures and power outages over the state on February 17, 2021.MATTHEW BUSCH/AFP via Getty Images
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A man walks home through his neighborhood in Waco amid the power outages in Texas on Feb. 17, 2021.
A man walks home through his neighborhood in Waco amid the power outages in Texas on Feb. 17, 2021.MATTHEW BUSCH/AFP via Getty Images
People using their car to heat up their home in East Dallas, Texas on Feb. 17, 2021.
People using their car to heat up their home in East Dallas, Texas on Feb. 17, 2021.AP
Water from a broken water line reached into the sanctuary at St. Paul The Apostle Church in Richardson, Texas on Feb. 17, 2021.
Water from a broken water line reached into the sanctuary at St. Paul The Apostle Church in Richardson, Texas on Feb. 17, 2021.AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez
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People washing their hands after power returned to their apartment in Dallas on Feb. 17, 2021.
People washing their hands after power returned to their apartment in Dallas on Feb. 17, 2021.Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News via AP
A fox or small coyote crosses Plano Road between cars moving through the Spring Creek Nature Area as a second winter storm brought more snow and continued freezing temperatures to North Texas on Tuesday night, Feb. 16, 2021.
A fox or small coyote crosses Plano Road between cars moving through the Spring Creek Nature Area as a second winter storm brought more snow and continued freezing temperatures to North Texas on Tuesday night, Feb. 16, 2021.Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News via AP
A car seen on a snow-covered road in Texas on Feb. 17, 2021.
A car seen on a snow-covered road in Texas on Feb. 17, 2021.MATTHEW BUSCH/AFP via Getty Images
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Snow covers the ground in Waco, Texas, on February 17, 2021.
Snow covers the ground in Waco, Texas, on February 17, 2021.MATTHEW BUSCH/AFP via Getty Images
Tire tracks are seen in a snow covered neighborhood in Waco, Texas as severe winter weather conditions over the last few days has forced road closures and power outages over the state on February 17, 2021.
Tire tracks are seen in a snow covered neighborhood in Waco, Texas as severe winter weather conditions over the last few days has forced road closures and power outages over the state on February 17, 2021. MATTHEW BUSCH/AFP via Getty Images
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The most severe parts of the storm were finally moving away from the Lone Star State, weather watchers said.

“The worst is over and things will be getting better through the weekend,” Dan Petersen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland, said.

An Oncor crew works on along Elsie Faye Higgins Street in Houston amid the power outages across the state on Feb. 17, 2021. Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News via AP

Texas has been hit hardest, but many other states have also suffered. In Oregon, more than 100,000 customers remained without power Thursday after the worst damage to the power system in 40 years, Portland General Electric (PGE) said.

“These are the most dangerous conditions we’ve ever seen in the history of PGE,” said Dale Goodman, director of utility operations, who declined to predict when all customers would have power restored.

People wait in long lines at an H-E-B grocery store in Austin, Texas on February 17, 2021. Getty Images

Utilities from Minnesota to Texas have implemented rolling blackouts to ease the burden on strained power grids. 

The Southwest Power Pool, a group of utilities covering 14 states, said the blackouts were “a last resort to preserve the reliability of the electric system as a whole.”

With Post wires