Man Reportedly Freezes To Death In Recliner as Winter Storm Ravages Texas

A man reportedly froze to death in his recliner with his wife found fighting for survival next to him as Texas entered its ninth day of disruption caused by a deadly winter storm—resulting in severe electricity, food and water shortages.

The man was reportedly found dead at his home in Abilene on Wednesday after being without power in sub-zero temperatures for several hours.

More than 211,000 power outages were reported by Texas early on Friday morning, according to the PowerOutrage.us. The number had previously been over a million, as the southern state's lowest temperatures in 30 years caused widespread chaos. Across the state, the freezing temperatures and power outages are disrupting food supply chains, causing shortages. Texans are using up supplies they had stockpiled and losing more as items due to icy cold temperatures and no heating.

Josh Casey, president of Abilene Fresh, a charity that donates food to local non-profits reported on the man's death.

"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 neighbors," he said in a Facebook post.

Casey added that the wife was found "nearly dead" and is still in the hospital "in peril".

He urged Abilene residents to check on their neighbours to ensure they were safe.

"If we all do it maybe we stop this from happening. I don't know any solution for anything really right now. Except people freezing to death near me is not ok. Not ok," he said.

Newsweek has contacted him and the Abilene police department for comment.

President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency in Texas last Sunday, which has been worst-affected by the storm.

An estimated 13 million people in the southern state were under boil water notices Thursday afternoon as officials responded to the winter storm.

According to the New York Times, temperatures aren't expected to go above freezing until Saturday.

The BBC also reported that at least 21 deaths in Texas are storm-related.

The storm has caused freezing temperatures in 30 states across the U.S. An energy emergency has been declared and 14 states in the U.S. are facing intermittent blackouts. It is the first time in 80 years the Southwest Power Pool has had to resort to rolling outages which stretch from as far north as Montana and North Dakota, south to Texas and east to Louisiana and Arkansas.

Mississippi, Oregon, Louisiana and Kentucky have also been badly affected by the storm, with hundreds of thousands of people left without electricity.

The storm, which froze roads, nuclear facilities, coal and gas power stations and wind turbines, could be in part due to Arctic warming caused by climate change, Judah Cohen, director of seasonal forecasting at Atmospheric and Environmental Research, told the Guardian on Wednesday.