国际英语新闻:Up to 2.5 mln in U.S. Texas without power due to winter storm

HOUSTON, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Up to 2.5 million customers were without power in the U.S. state of Texas Monday morning as the state's power generation capacity is impacted by an ongoing winter storm brought by Arctic blast.

According to poweroutage.us, up to 2.5 million Texas customers experienced power outage Monday morning with some reports of blackout in the Houston area.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) declared an "energy emergency alert three" because electricity supplies can't meet the high demand. The alert means rotating outages which typically last between 15 minutes and one hour. The rolling blackouts could repeat, all the way through Tuesday morning, according to ERCOT officials.

According to the National Weather Service, a Winter Storm Warning is in effect for the southeast part of Texas and will last through Monday afternoon as temperatures went below zero Monday morning.

A Winter Storm Warning means significant snow, sleet or ice accumulations that may impact travel within 24 hours.

On top of that, a Wind Chill Warning will go into effect at midnight in southwest Texas, the first-ever such warning issued for the area, said the National Weather Service.

A Wind Chill Warning means the combination of very cold air and strong winds will create dangerously low wind chill values. This will result in frost bite and can lead to hypothermia or death if precautions are not taken.

As Arctic air is moving down south, the coldest February temperatures in 122 years are predicted to reach Houston by Tuesday morning. With temperatures staying below freezing and another winter storm likely on Wednesday, travel could be impacted throughout the work week.